Pocket Full of Sunshine
by FanficFemale
Summary: Everyone has something that can brighten up their lives. What turns out to be the sunshine in Yusei's life was not what he expected. But is it all too good to be true?
1. A Sweet Escape

**A/N: An interesting idea that came to me. Please don't hurt me for starting another story! **

**A Sweet Escape**

Fudo Yusei, the Signer with the dragon head mark on his right arm, was currently working diligently on improving his D-Wheel. However he was doing this alone since everyone else was busy or had other plans. Bruno, the newest member of Team 5Ds, would be the first one Yusei would ask for help when it came to working on the D-Wheels. Though today when Yusei asked for his help, Bruno had regrettably turned him down saying he had something important that he needed to take care of. And Yusei hadn't bothered questioning him on it since it wasn't his business anyway. Crow was out on his job, making deliveries left and right to keep him busy throughout the whole day. Jack just didn't feel like staying inside all day and instead went out to do whatever it is he does when he had his alone time. Aki and the twins, Rua and Ruca, were still at school and it would be awhile before they were let out. Thus Yusei had the whole apartment to himself for the whole day. However that was about to change very soon, which Yusei was just about to find out.

Yusei had let out an exhausted sigh from his lips from having working on his D-Wheel non-stop for the past three hours now.

"Don't you think you should take a break now Yusei-kun?" a lighthearted voice suddenly asked from out of no where, which surprised Yusei and made him immediately stop what he was doing.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly took a look around the garage in hopes to find the source of the voice. However it appeared that no one was there but something told Yusei that whoever had spoken did not leave.

"Who's there?" demanded Yusei as his eyes still tried to find where the person was hiding.

"You don't recognize my voice?" the voice asked curiously though there was a twinge of disappointment creeping in their tone.

Now that Yusei thought about it, the voice was starting to sound very familiar to him, but he still couldn't seem to place where he had heard it before. The person must have realized Yusei's struggle in trying to remember them which made the disappointment more evident in their voice.

"You really don't remember me do you Yusei-kun?"

Yusei didn't know why but for some reason hearing how forlorn the person was getting, made him feel disappointed in himself for not being able to place a face to the voice. With another sigh Yusei figured it was just best to admit he could figure out who the person was so the person could just tell him already.

"I'm sure if you come out I'll know who you are," Yusei said seriously but gently at the same time, not wanting to hurt the person's feelings anymore than he already had.

There was no verbal response as Yusei thought there would be. Instead he was caught off guard when a pair of hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind him.

"I want to give you one more chance to figure out who I am. Just think really hard Yusei-kun," replied the person with clear amusement in their voice.

Yusei was indeed beginning o figure out who the person was by now. Yusei could only think of one person who would actually do something like this. On top of that there was also only two people he know who actually used honorifics on his name and knew that this person had to be one of them. The problem for Yusei was that the possibility of the said person being in his time period was very unlikely and he was afraid of getting his hopes up only for them to be crushed if he turned out to be wrong. Nevertheless with a bit of hesitation he risked saying the name that he guessed belonged to the person that was behind him.

"J-Judai?" spoke Yusei secretly hoping that he was right.

The hands instantly removed from Yusei's eyes and Yusei in response quickly turned around to see a grinning Judai standing in front of him.

"It's good to see you again Yusei-kun," Judai replied joyfully causing Yusei's lips to curve slightly upwards in a smile of his own.

"It's good to see you too Judai-san," greeted back Yusei glad that the person indeed turned out to Judai yet he was a little curious to the reason of Judai's unexpected visit.

"So what brings you here Judai?" questioned Yusei which actually made the grin on Judai's face grow bigger.

"A duel of course!" Judai answered with load of anticipation.

"A duel?" said Yusei in mild puzzlement not having expected that answer.

"Yeah, since the whole Paradox thing I've been itching to see more of those Synchro Summons! So can we duel?" pleaded Judai who looked like he was ready to burst with excitement at the very idea of dueling against Yusei.

Yusei wasn't sure about dueling Judai, not because he didn't want to, but because he still had plenty of things he would like to continue his work on improving the Yusei Go a bit more. Yet the moment his eyes connected to those eager and hopeful brown eyes his resolved dissipated instantly.

"Alright, just let me clean up a bit," Yusei stated in slight defeat making Judai ecstatic.

"Awesome, you're the best Yusei!" exclaimed Judai while giving Yusei a grateful hug in response.

Yusei had been a little thrown off by the unexpected hug, yet soon a warm smile came to his lips at the gesture.

"No problem Judai."

Both Yusei and Judai were panting in exhaustion after the duel that had just taken place. The duel had been tremendous with both duelists giving all that they had into it. Even though Yusei had lost, it had been extremely close, yet more importantly for Yusei was that he had fun.

"Gotcha! That was a fun duel Yusei!" proclaimed Judai giving his signature poise to Yusei with a joyful expression on his face.

"It was," agreed Yusei as an enjoyable look came over his features realizing he truly had enjoyed dueling with Judai.

"Then we defiantly have to duel again sometime, right Yusei-kun?" Judai asked happily

A pleasant smile was quickly forming on Yusei's lips at the thought of dueling Judai again. Yusei honestly couldn't remember the last time he dueled where he didn't need to worry about saving the world or some high stakes being placed on the duel. Dueling with Judai had been a new experience for Yusei. He had been completely relaxed during the whole duel, not having to worry about anything but trying to win. All his worries and troubles had been completely forgotten as the duel became his only focus. It was like taking a breather from reality, a sweet escape.

"Yes Judai-san, I definitely look forward to a rematch."

* * *

Yusei let out a barely audible groan when he felt two pairs of hands start shaking him by his shoulders.

"Yusei."

Hearing his name being called only made a more audible annoyed sound come out of his mouth. However this only made the hands start shaking him even harder.

"Yusei!"

"Judai please let me rest a little longer. That duel really wore me out," tiredly mumbled Yusei, opening his eyes slightly so he could take a peek at Judai before he would go back to sleep.

However the face that was in front of Yusei was not Judai and that made Yusei's eyes snap open all the way.

"Bruno?" Yusei replied while sitting straight up in surprise, not expecting to see the said bluenette being the one to greet him from his slumber.

This had made a relieved sigh come from Bruno before a small smile came to his face.

"Good you're awake. You had me worried there for a minute," he answered since it took a lot longer for Yusei to be woken up than usual.

After a moment, the sleep was clearing from Yusei's mind and his awareness was coming back now.

"What time is it?" he asked, wanting to know how long he had been out for.

"A little past one," stated Bruno, which made Yusei's eyes widen in shock

"What?" he exclaimed, realizing that that meant that only an hour had passed when Judai first showed up.

That's when he realized that he was sitting right beside his D-Wheel in the garage where he had been before Judai showed up. He then looked around the place to find that nothing was out of the ordinary and that the mess he had cleaned up before the duel was still there as well. Everything, even the exact point he stopped working before Judai had interrupted him, remained the same.

"_Was it just a dream?"_ Yusei thought in disappointment, desperately hoping that that wasn't the case.

Though that was the emotional part of Yusei talking. The rational part realized that it made sense that it was a dream. Judai coming out nowhere just to duel him out of the blue like that seemed pretty farfetched. The more he thought about it the more he realized it had to have been a dream. Even if Judai was still alive he would have defiantly been older and not the eighteen-year old version of the boy. This made Yusei place his hands over his face in defeat.

"_I should've known that seeing Judai again would be too good to be true,"_ Yusei thought bitterly, with a strained smile on his face.

Bruno having caught the hurt that briefly flashed in Yusei's eyes asked Yusei if he was ok, which had brought Yusei out of his solemn thoughts.

"I'm fine. I think I'll turn in early for today," Yusei answered as he began standing up.

"Alright, I'll finish up then if you want me to," he offered, causing a small smile to reach Yusei's lips.

"Thanks Bruno, that would be good," Yusei stated gratefully.

"Sure, no problem," Bruno assured him before Yusei said a quick see you later and existed the garage.

As soon as Yusei left, a frown instantly displayed on Bruno's face.

"Yusei…" he muttered softly with worry over his friend's sudden sour mood.


	2. A Secret Place

**A/N: This will be the first real chapter of the story. The chapter before this was like a prologue. **

**A Secret Place**

"So do you like it?" Yusei asked while Judai was circling around him inspecting the new riding suit Yusei was currently wearing.

Judai did one more once around before an amused grin formed on his lips.

"You don't like to change your style much do you Yusei-kun?" teased Judai causing a twitch of amusement to play on Yusei's face as well

"Why change what works?" countered Yusei with a grin making a light chuckle escape Judai's mouth.

"I can't argue with that. That look definitely works for you," Judai remarked surely with a bit of humor in his tone.

Judai then took another glance at the suit Yusei was wearing and he couldn't help but ask the question that came to his mind right away.

"Are all riding suits meant to be that tight?" Judai asked.

The question succeeded in bringing a light red color to Yusei's cheeks. Nonetheless seeing the genuine curiosity in Judai's eyes gave him enough resolve to answer the question.

"Yes they are. Its purpose is to act like a second skin for protection when you're in a riding duel," answered Yusei.

"Oh, well I suppose that I need to get one then if we're ever going to have a riding duel," replied Judai as a huge grin appeared on his face.

A smile formed on Yusei's mouth at that, not surprised that Judai would want to try a riding duel for himself.

"You would also need a D-Wheel," Yusei told Judai.

"Anything else?" questioned Judai as his interest for riding duels was growing more and more.

Yusei found it quite amusing how Judai could get so easily excited about anything that had dueling involved. And it seemed that Judai's excitement was contagious as Yusei felt eager to tell Judai more about it.

"Speed Spells, you can't use your regular spell cards unless you want to take some heavy damage to your life points," he revealed which only caused Judai to become more enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Now you have to tell me more about these riding duels!" exclaimed Judai actually making Yusei laugh a bit at the boy's behavior.

Yusei then explained the basic concepts of riding duel making sure to elaborate as simply as he could so Judai would understand. By the time Yusei was done, Judai was fully wound up.

"Oh wow! Just hearing about these riding duels is getting me pumped up!"

The smile on Yusei's face grew at seeing how enthusiastic Judai was about riding duels.

"I have no doubt that you'd make an awesome Riding Duelist Judai-san," Yusei complimented him in a sincere voice bringing a thrilled smile on Judai's face

However, the smile quickly vanished from Judai's lips when a throbbing went through his head and his eyes began to glow a teal and gold color.

"Judai, what's wrong?" Yusei asked urgently, rushing to Judai's side when he noticed Judai's eyes change and how Judai had his hands gripping his head in pain.

Fortunately it didn't take long for Judai's eyes to turn back to normal, but now he was giving Yusei an imperative and worried look.

"You can't trust them," declared Judai, making Yusei's become concerned and serious at the same time.

"Who?" Yusei questioned, getting a dreadful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Judai kept the stern expression on his face, though grief and regret flashed in his eyes for a moment.

"None of them," he replied solemnly, making Yusei's eyes widen in surprise.

* * *

Yusei had a contemplating expression on his face and a hot cup of tea in his hand as he walked down the apartment stairs that lead to the garage. When he entered the garage Crow, Jack, and Bruno were already there. Jack and Crow were sitting at the table right in the middle of their meal while Bruno was typing away on the computer. However as soon as they all had heard Yusei coming down the steps, everyone's attention turned on him.

"Is something wrong?" asked Yusei, seeing that the three were staring at him.

"Do you know what time it is?" Jack asked back seriously.

Yusei didn't respond which told them that he in fact didn't know the current time.

"It's eleven thirty," Crow answered for him, making a surprised look cross Yusei's face since he knew that he usually woke up much earlier than that.

"You've been sleeping a lot lately Yusei. Are you feeling well?" wondered Bruno in concern.

"I'm fine really. I guess the recent events that have been going on lately have just probably made me more exhausted," causally stated Yusei as he joined Crow and Jack at the table.

"Things definitely have been getting hectic around here lately," Crow commented normally, satisfied with Yusei's answer.

"Humph, no matter what's been happening you should always be at one hundred percent strength!" clamed Jack, causing Crow to roll his eyes and Yusei to crack a smile from the typical Jack Atlas response.

Yet Bruno remained silent. He couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it than that.

"_But I should respect Yusei's privacy. Hopefully whatever's going on with him isn't something too serious,"_ thought Bruno while taking a side glance at Yusei.

The rest of the day did not turn out too well for Team 5Ds. Their encounter with Team Unicorn during the practice runs left the team in high tension. Though, the tension was really coming from Jack, Crow, and Yusei. When Andore from Team Unicorn had suggested a one on one duel as a way of repayment for Crow accidently crashing into him during their practice session, and Yusei was the first one to decline. Crow had thought it was a good idea and it wasn't until John had insulted Jack that he agreed. Nonetheless, Yusei still refused and even came up with an excuse to get out of dueling Andore which Team Unicorn had curtly accepted and carried on with their scheduled run.

And that's when the three came to a disagreement on how the situation had been handled. Jack didn't like that they were running away from a challenge like cowards. Crow wasn't too pleased about how Yusei straightforwardly lied to get out of a duel, which he thought Yusei would never do. Yusei simply explained himself by saying that giving their opponents a sneak peek at their strategy wasn't a good idea. But Jack and Crow didn't accept that because they knew there had to be more to it than that and Yusei wasn't being fully honest with them. However Yusei continued to remain indifferent about it and wouldn't say any more about the subject, so the three had left the practice area in uneasy silence.

When Jack, Crow, Yusei, and Bruno returned to the apartment, Jack and Crow wanted to finish the discussion. However Yusei had no intention of explaining anything further so as soon as he got off his D-Wheel he started heading upstairs. But Jack had managed to grab Yusei by the shoulder before he could leave.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on!" proclaimed Jack.

Yusei hesitated before he turned around to face Jack. He saw the strict look on Jack's face, the rigid look on Crow's, and the worried one on Brown's. This made Yusei feel a little guilty from making them worry so much, but the truth was he couldn't fully explain it either. He was very apprehensive about telling them of the dreams he had been having lately, especially since he never told any of them what happened with Paradox and still had no intention of revealing the events to them just yet. But he also knew it wasn't fair to his friends to keep something of importance from them just because of how he felt.

"_Maybe I don't have to really explain everything, just mention the warning Judai-san gave me,"_ Yusei reasoned with himself.

Just as Yusei was about to tell them that piece of information, he started feeling a small throbbing sensation in his head as he heard Judai's warning replaying in his mind.

_You can't trust them…none of them._

This made Yusei stop himself from opening his mouth. The same thing had happened when he was going to agree to duel Andore earlier, which had made sense to Yusei. Team Unicorn was their opponents and therefore could not be trusted so Yusei had heeded the warning. But now he wasn't sure whether to follow it or not.

"_They're my friends,"_ Yusei reminded himself, hoping that that would make it stop.

However it did the opposite and the headache grew worse as Judai's words keep repeating themselves over and over in his head. Yusei was starting to feel woozy from the pain in his head, but he tried as hard as he could not to let it show.

"_Why is this happening now?"_ he wondered in pain and confusion.

As if to answer his question, certain memories started playing in his mind. The first one was of Jack stealing his first built D-Wheel and Stardust away from him. This made an old fear that Yusei buried down start coming up to the surface.

"_Jack wouldn't betray me again…would he?"_ wondered Yusei as that fear of Jack or any of the others betraying him, started to get to Yusei.

The next one was of Jack and Crow leaving Team Satisfaction after Kiryu's loss of sanity.

"_If I ever crossed the line…would they stay with me?"_

That was another thing that he feared. Yusei knew he wasn't perfect and was only human. But he knew his friends forgot that at times and he was scared that if he ever did anything that truly hurt them that they wouldn't forgive him.

The memory of how he first meant Bruno then hit him.

"_Bruno…"_

Yusei had to pause there. He didn't really know anything about Bruno and only knew him for a short time. Bruno didn't know who he was either, but that probably made the situation worse.

"_For all I know Bruno could be working for Yliaster and not even knowing it himself."_

This made Yusei realize that he may have trusted Bruno too easily just because they had something in common. Yusei almost scowled at himself for his foolishness.

"_Hadn't I learned from what happened in Crashtown, not to trust people right away?"_ Yusei scolded himself, thinking about Barbara and how she betrayed him so quickly.

And that's when it hit him.

"_Am I too trusting? Is that what Judai was really trying to tell me?"_ contemplated Yusei unsurely before the migraine that had still been growing caused him to finally lose his stamina.

"Yusei!" they all shouted in concern as Jack had caught Yusei before he hit the ground.

"Yusei, what's wrong?" asked Crow moving closer to Yusei and Jack, with Bruno following right behind.

Yet Crow's loud voice only made Yusei's headache worse. More negative thoughts about being disserted and mislead by the people around him continued to go through Yusei's mind until all of it was just too much for him to take anymore. He tore out of Jack's hold and immediately ran upstairs away from them, leaving the three in absolute shock.

Yusei quickly entered his room and laid his back against the wall, trying to calm down his breathing. The headache was beginning to fade away now that he was alone. Yusei slid down against the wall and sat down with his hands over his face. The headache was almost gone now, but the depressing thoughts about his friends had not left him.

"I can trust them, I know I can," uttered Yusei, yet even his voice didn't sound too positive about what he just said.

"So then why do I still fear that I can't," Yusei muttered in an irritated tone while leaning his head against the wall in defeat.

This was too much to handle in one day. So since it was already getting late anyway, he wanted to get some sleep. Yusei took off his jacket, gloves, and boots before getting into his bed.

A whole hour had passed and as hard as Yusei tried, he couldn't get to sleep. The stress from today's endeavors wouldn't let him relax. But he wanted to so badly. He needed to go to that special place with Judai. When he was there, he only thought about Judai and that's what he liked most about it. His mind wasn't bothered by anything else and Judai was enough for him to be happy there. Yusei sighed heavily before he shifted on the bed onto his stomach and his hand swiftly went under his mattress. When his hand found what it was looking for, he pulled it out. With the small sized plastic bottle in his hand, he unscrewed the top and then let the contents from the bottle drop onto his other hand.

He stared at the small white pills in his hand and debated whether he should take them again. He had been doing well without them for a while but now he felt he needed them again. He wanted to be with Judai so badly and this would help him get there. Making up his mind, he swallowed the pills and waited for them to take effect. After twelve minutes he started feeling very drowsy and knew the pills were finally taking effect. Yusei put away the medicine bottle back in its hiding place before he laid his back down against the bed. His eyelids were growing heavier and his senses where slowing down. Yusei was on the border line of consciousness as a very small smile came to his lips.

"_I'm coming Judai,"_ was Yusei's last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness.

**A/N: And now things get interesting. Yes those were sleeping pills Yusei took. The real question is will he suffer from the side effects. Has he already? Or is something else at work here?**


	3. Sticks and Stones

**A/N: This took awhile for me to write, so enjoy!**

**Sticks and Stones**

Yusei's eyes were glued to Judai, mesmerized by his fluent movements. Yusei watched how Judai's body moved to its own rhythm. How he used his arms and legs to work perfectly in synch together. How his head would bop up and down and/or swing left to right, working along with the rest of his body. It was like Judai was performing a masterpiece just for him.

"So did you enjoy it?" Judai asked after he ended his dance, eagerly waiting for Yusei's response.

Yusei couldn't help but smile at Judai. He truly did enjoy watching him dance. He was delighted to see another talent that Judai was really good at besides dueling. It made Yusei wonder if Judai had any other hidden talents as well.

"I loved it. You are amazing Judai-san," answered Yusei in absolute admiration for the one standing before him.

"Well, you're quite amazing yourself Yusei-kun." Judai complemented right back at Yusei which increased the smile on his face.

"You know, I wouldn't mind having a dance partner next time," he continued with a grin.

However this made an unhappy expression come on Yusei's face which confused Judai.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked in concern.

"I'm a really lousy dancer," admitted Yusei with a slight frown on his face.

However Yusei was soon caught off guard when Judai laughed. Seeing the confused and somewhat somber look on Yusei's face made Judai stop laughing even though he still had a grin on his lips.

"That's no problem Yusei-kun. I can teach you how to dance," Judai assured him, but the frown on Yusei's face didn't waver at all.

"Martha has tried several times to teach me but I still couldn't get it," Yusei stated seriously.

This made a thoughtful look cross Judai's face.

"Let me see you dance," responded Judai with a firm expression.

At first Yusei was very reluctant about trying to dance in front of Judai but Judai encouraged him to go on. After Yusei demonstrated what he could do, Judai was left with a grim look on his face.

"_Wow, he really does suck…But that's nothing that I can't fix,"_ Judai thought as a smile made its way to his lips.

"I think I know what the problem is," proclaimed Judai, making a bored expression appear on Yusei's features.

"I thinking too much about it instead of just going with the flow," Yusei replied in a droned tone, causing a frown to come to Judai's lips as well.

The way Yusei said that, it was obvious that he had been told that many times before and that bothered Judai.

"Actually, I was going to say that you just need to find a way to relate better with dancing," Judai remarked back, which definitely threw Yusei off guard.

"What?" he asked back now a little perplexed with the answer Judai gave him.

Judai's smile grew some at seeing the rare baffled Yusei and decided to explain further to him.

"Yusei-kun, there's nothing wrong with how you're trying to dance. You just need to adjust the way you're doing it," explained Judai.

Still seeing the confusion in Yusei's eyes made Judai realize that he was going to have to elaborate more on what he was trying to tell Yusei. Judai didn't say anything for a while, trying to figure out how he could help Yusei understand it better. It took a few minutes, but Judai now knew exactly how to approach this.

"Yusei, what do you do when you're about to work on something like your D-Wheel or a computer program?" he questioned, which made Yusei raise his brow but he answered the question anyway.

"I have to decide what exactly I'm going to do with it first before I start doing anything. Then I make sure I have all the parts, pieces, or information that I need. Once I've done that I find the place I want to start working and then continue on from there until I'm finished," Yusei elaborated, getting a positive look from Judai afterward.

"And when you're working, how do you go about it?" wondered Judai.

Yusei paused for a moment to consider the question. No one has ever asked him something like that before, except Bruno but with Judai somehow the question had a different meaning to it. Yusei eventually realized the answer Judai was waiting for and that brought a genuine smile to his lips.

"I think about what I'm doing or what I'm going to do next, but at the same time I let my intuition guide me on how to achieve what I'm planning to do. That's how I have to handle dancing too, right Judai?" Yusei said positively, knowing that he had figured it out.

"You got it. Just like how you work on your D-Wheel you need to work the same way with dancing," reiterated Judai happily.

Yusei's smile grew from this before Judai asked if he wanted to try to dance again. Feeling more confident and now knowing what to do, Yusei agreed to try again. Judai was amazed at how much Yusei improved in the amount of time. Yusei hadn't of course become an expert but he could at least do basic steps and movements without faltering.

"You're really getting the hang of it Yusei-kun," praised Judai, making Yusei's eyes shine with gladness.

"That's because I have a good teacher," Yusei declared sincerely, causing Judai to laugh in response.

"It's nice to know that I'm a much better teacher than student," Judai joked, thinking back to his days at Duel Academia.

"Well some do say that the best teachers make the worst students," commented Yusei which in turn made them both bust out laughing.

As their laughter settled down, Yusei had just realized that he hadn't laughed like that in a long time. With everything that was happening in his life he had found little time to enjoy himself. But whenever he was around Judai it was definitely a lot easier for him to be at ease as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"_Why can't I feel this way around my friends?"_ thought Yusei letting out a sigh knowing how true that statement was.

This brought him back to his doubts regarding his friends' trust that was growing into a real concern as of lately. He couldn't put it off any longer, he had to know for sure if his friend's trust needed to be questioned.

"Judai-san?" called Yusei making Judai take immediate notice of the severe expression that had taken over Yusei's face.

"Yes Yusei-kun?" worryingly said Judai as he wasn't sure what had brought on the sudden change in Yusei's demeanor.

"About the warning you gave me…does that also include my friends?" Yusei asked critically, making a solemn expression cross Judai's face.

Judai avoided looking at Yusei knowing that this would be hard for him to take.

"It does," he answered dejectedly wishing he didn't have to tell him that.

Judai didn't want to continue on this subject but sadly knew that he had to.

"Yusei-kun, I know it's hard to believe. But it's much better if you leave them now before they hurt you," advised Judai which brought a frown to Yusei's lips.

"I can't do that, they're my friends," Yusei affirmed strongly, but whether it was to Judai or to himself Yusei wasn't so sure.

"Yes, because you were always able to save them and be there for them. But how do you think they'll act if you hurt them?" countered Judai seriously, making surprise and slight uncertainty show on Yusei's face.

Yusei couldn't nor didn't know how to respond to that. That was one of the scenarios that haunted him and made him doubt the most when concerning his friends.

"It happened to me and my friends," Judai softly admitted, which brought Yusei's attention back to Judai.

"They told me that I was selfish and that I betrayed them. And at first I believed that. But now…I realize that they were the ones who betrayed me," Judai muttered bitterly as certain memories came to him.

Noticing the hurt look on Judai's face made Yusei's heart ache. Before he realized what he was doing, he swiftly pulled Judai into a comforting hug. The hug seemed to work as the sadness started leaving Judai's face as he relaxed in Yusei's embrace. Even though Judai was feeling better now, Yusei couldn't get that excruciating painful look that had been on Judai's face only seconds ago.

"_Did his friends really cause him that much pain?"_ wondered Yusei, not understanding why anyone would want to harm Judai like that.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Yusei asked carefully since he didn't want Judai to feel pressured into telling him if he didn't want to.

Judai didn't respond so Yusei assumed that Judai didn't want to talk about it right now. However, Judai suddenly removed himself from Yusei and facing him with serious eyes.

"I'll show you," replied Judai as his eyes turned teal and gold, creating a black light that covered the entire area.

Yusei had to cover his eyes from the light, but when he opened them up again he was surprised to see he was in an open courtyard of some kind of fortress. The atmosphere was so dark and morbid. Everything, from the sky, to the ground, to the fortress itself had a very ominous feel to it. Yusei was then caught off guard when he noticed that he was walking further into the fortress. Yusei was becoming confused and a little bit worried when he tried to stop from moving but couldn't as he seemed to have no control over what he was doing. When he finally stopped walking however, a bright light flashed in his eyes. The light only lasted for a second, yet as soon as it was gone to Yusei's surprise many duel monsters were now present all over the entire area. His head turned straight ahead to see a figure coming out of the shadows.

"My name is Bronn. The ruler of this fortress," the figure announced.

Yusei was getting more perplexed from not knowing what was going on so much that he couldn't respond. However his mouth seemed to have opened on its own accord.

"I'm Yuki Judai!" were the words that came out and made realization strike Yusei.

"_I can't control my body because I'm not in mine. I'm in Judai's,"_ Yusei deduced, before Judai opened his mouth again.

"I'm here to save Freed's friends and my friend Johan from this place!" proclaimed Judai with determination.

"_I see, Judai wants me to experience this through his eyes instead of my own,"_ Yusei realized, now starting to understand what was happening.

So Yusei was no longer bewildered and was now paying close attention to what was going on. Yusei was listening as Bronn explained the "rules" of his fortress and how they dealt with people who broke said rules. Yusei felt the fear and strong determination come from Judai when Bronn mentioned how many people were killed on the very ground they were on. Yusei sympathized with this, knowing that if someone was implying that they had killed one of his friends he would feel the same way.

It wasn't until the duel began and Bronn played the magic card Jyashinkyoten that a dreadful feeling washed over Yusei. Just as Bronn tossed up a white blank card, where it ended up above the book, something was happening on the sidelines. Judai's head turned to the left to see four people that were unconscious and chained coming up from the ground.

"Manjoume…Kenzan…Asuka…Fubuki-san…" Judai said in shock.

Yusei was also surprised. He could tell right away that the four had to be Judai's friends and something told him things were going to get much worse. Bronn's patronizing sure wasn't helping either.

Yusei felt some gratification when Judai had attacked with Sparkman and reduced Bronn's life points because Bronn was starting to get on Yusei's nerves as well.

"At this time Jyashinkyoten, Ikari will be added," Bronn suddenly announced while taking a card from his deck and showing it to Judai/Yusei.

Just then Manjoume regained consciousness and stood up before he started muttering something neither Judai nor Yusei could hear.

"Manjoume!" called out Judai, having noticed his friends awakening.

This grabbed his attention as he looked down at Judai and said something else that Judai and Yusei couldn't hear.

"Are you ok? …I'll save you as soon as possible!" Judai told him in reassurance, yet this seemed to have the opposite affect and made Manjoume angrier.

"Judai, you idiot!" shouted a very angry Manjoume, which stunned both Judai and Yusei.

"We all came with you here to save Johan right? But then you went all by yourself and in the end you ignore us!"

Yusei didn't understand why Manjoume would say something like that to Judai. Even if Judai did supposedly ignore them, Yusei couldn't see why Manjoume was so angry about it. Yusei knew he did his share of neglecting with his friends but it was never intentional and despite that he still cared about them. Yet as Yusei was watching through Judai's eyes, he became even more shocked when the translucent image of Jack replaced Manjoume.

"N-no it's…that…"

But Manjoume refused to hear it and carried on.

"You're always like that! You're always selfish and think about yourself! We all trusted you because of friendship but in the end…We all who all trusted you are the idiot!" he yelled, pointing accursedly at Judai.

However to Yusei it was Jack who was yelling that at him and looking at him in hatred. And then the kanji mark on Manjoume's neck glowed and floated up into the book before his whole body glowed and exploded into many tiny yellow particles signaling his death. It was devastating to all of them but for Yusei tears were threatening to escape his eyes because to him it was Jack who had just died before his eyes. On top of that, Yusei could also feel all the pain and sadness Judai was feeling towards this too. Bronn's laughter grabbed Judai/Yusei's attention causing a spark of anger in both of them.

"C'mon and attack me…attack me again. All my damage will cause the Sacred Scriptures of Wickedness to scribe a text on it…And the next page will be one of them," he stated motioning his head to where Judai's friends were at, causing fear in everyone.

"If Judai-kun attacks, either one of us will disappear next…" Fubuki clarified making their attention come to him.

"I don't want it! Why do we have to disappear during this duel?" cried Asuka with fret clear on her face.

"That's right! It's all Aniki's fault! It's all because of your selfishness!" Kenzan yelled at Judai, startling Judai/Yusei once again by what was being said to him.

This was just too much for Judai as he went on his knees, feeling hopeless in the situation. Yusei right then wished he could hold Judai and give him comfort but he knew he couldn't and it saddened him greatly.

"What's wrong Judai? Don't you still have anything up your sleeve? …If you don't have any why don't you just end this turn…" mocked Bronn while laughing, which made Yusei want to beat the guy up himself.

"Turn endo," Judai announced desperately slowly getting up since there was nothing else he could do.

"I'm sorry Hane Kuriboh," Judai apologized to his little duel monster companion after it had appeared.

"I'm sorry Sparkman," Judai apologized to his other monster.

"I can't do it anymore…I can't fight anymore!" proclaimed Judai and Yusei knew it was true because he felt Judai's crushed spirit.

"_Oh Judai,"_ murmured Yusei in sadness in being useless at not being able to help him.

Unfortunately the duel was still carrying on and Bronn started his turn. When Bronn summon Zure, Yusei could clearly feel the vengeance pouring off the monster and figured it was ready to act on its negative feelings toward Judai. It did just that as it obliterated Sparkman and brought down Judai's life points.

"Aniki! Are we for display or something? Beat that guy and save us quickly! Otherwise I won't forgive you even if I turned into fossil!" screamed Kenzan making Yusei become angry at him.

"_Can't he see Judai is suffering from this as well?"_ Yusei thought bitterly, not liking how Judai's feelings were being ignored.

"_What should I do? …At this rate…My life will be shaved off and I'll die…But if I shaved off his life…My friends would die…But if that's the case…I'd rather sacrifice myself…"_ concluded Judai, which Yusei heard and made him want to cry even more.

Yusei realized as well that Judai was trapped. If he continued the duel, he would have to eventually attack Bronn or Bronn would force Judai to attack him and then his friends would die. But then even if Judai surrendered and sacrificed his life, it was still very likely that his friends would be killed anyway, especially with someone like Bronn still around. Yet Judai was still going to sacrifice his life for the slim chance that his friends would be spared. Yusei lowered his head at Judai's and his own desperation, realizing if he was in this situation he would be just as lost as Judai was.

"It seems like you can't find any other way…But if you sacrifice yourself instead of them nothing good will happen," replied Bronn, who had just make clear that indeed Judai's friends would still die no matter what Judai did.

"Let your friends suffer…let them be sad…and let them hate you…Even if they die, live on distrust of your friends!" exclaimed Bronn excitedly, making it obvious that he was enjoying Judai's suffering.

"What do you mean?" asked Judai frantically to which Bronn just laughed at.

However Yusei understood exactly what Bronn meant and it was clear to him that Judai knew what Bronn meant now. Yusei had such a hard time swallowing all of this. Seeing how Bronn who was not only destroying Judai's bonds but was taking pleasure in doing it too.

"What's wrong…it's your turn…Or maybe you're planning to surrender and go straight to hell," taunted Bronn, which was just making Yusei hate him more.

"_Why can't he just shut up?"_ thought Yusei with a snarl.

"Draw!" Judai announced with hesitation after seeing the scared and angry expressions on his friends' faces.

Judai looked at the card he just drew and Yusei saw that it was Judai's ace monster, Neos.

"_Judai! The dice has been rolled. At this time, you will need to use all of your strength to win. That's the fate of a duelist,"_ Neos told Judai, leaving both him and Yusei in distraught.

"_Why? …Why does a duelist need to sacrifice so much?"_ Yusei questioned somberly, remembering how much he and his friends suffered because they were duelists and Signers.

"_I can't…I can't fight anymore…I don't want to sacrifice anyone,"_ Judai admitted sadly to himself before he chose to play it safe and summon Featherman in defense mode.

Judai's move didn't please the onlookers at all and they started insulting Judai's lack of bravery, which Yusei felt was wrongly inaccurate.

"What a coward you are," declared Bronn, pointing right at Judai.

"_Judai's not the coward! Bronn is! Having to use such tactics to try and beat Judai in this duel proves it!"_ retorted Yusei, seething at Bronn and the crowds' words.

"I'll help you make your choice," Bronn proclaimed before beginning his turn.

Yusei watched in dismay as Bronn activated his trap card Dark Tournament, forcing Judai's monster to attack mode as it would soon be forced to battle Bronn's monster.

"Don't do it!" angrily shouted Kenzan.

"Save us!" Asuka screamed with desperation.

"Judai-kun!" said Fubuki in fret.

"_Are they blind?"_ wondered Yusei irritably, not believing how they were overlooking the fact that Judai was trapped by Bronn's trap card and how badly Judai wanted all of this to stop.

But despite how much Judai wanted it stopped, it didn't. Three attacks were launched at Bronn with three cards from Bronn's deck being added to the Jyashinkyoten. This made the three kanji symbols on Kenzan, Asuka, and Fubuki's bodies glow and just like with Manjoume, to Yusei the image of his friends took the place of Judai's.

"Aniki! Why do you sacrifice us…just to save Freed's friends?" Kenzan shouted at Judai.

"No, that's not true Kenzan!" Judai shouted back desperately.

"_No…I'd never…Crow,"_ frantically said Yusei, feeling like his childhood friend was the one hating him at this moment.

"It's painful. Not only physical pain, but the pain of a person's spirit who was betrayed by a friend," replied Fubuki, looking with sadness and disappointment at Judai.

"Fubuki-san…"

"_Kiryu…"_

"I have to bear with this sadness…of being betrayed by you," commented Asuka with a heartbreaking expression on her face.

"Asuka."

"_Aki."_

The three kanji symbols then lifted up from them and then their bodies glowed before all three exploded into small yellow particles. Leaving behind the sound of their painful screaming in Judai and Yusei's ears.

"That's not true…No, that's not true," Judai proclaimed dreadfully along with Yusei, repeating the same words in his mind.

It was even worse for them both when Bronn confessed the reason Judai's friends were now dead.

"_That can't be…all that for the sake of that card,"_ Judai/Yusei thought in disbelief.

"This is as far as you can go. Hurry up and lose and go join with your friends," mocked Bronn after ending his turn.

Judai angrily drew his card and of course Bronn couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Oh…You still have some spirit left even after losing your friends. And moreover you still continue the duel."

"If my life runs out…You will continue on dueling with the spirits of my friends! …I will hunt you down!" announced with a new determination flowing through him that Yusei instantly felt.

"_Judai's right, he would just continue to play with peoples' bonds until he's stopped…permanently,"_ contemplated Yusei feeling his own determination rise inside of him.

As Judai carried on with his turn, Yusei felt as though he was dueling with him. And when Judai was able to launch a counterattack that caused damage to Bronn's life points, it felt gratifying to Yusei.

"That's it! Anger and pain on the field, the real feeling of pain. That's the thrill of the duel!" exclaimed Bronn with excitement before making his move.

Bronn managed to inflict some piercing damage to Judai's life points and laughed as Judai went down to his knees from the pain of the attack.

"_Damn that bastard to hell,"_ Yusei growled to himself, wanting nothing more than to destroy Bronn for all he had done to Judai.

"Do you still have anything up your sleeve?" Bronn asked insultingly causing a huge amount of anger to surge through Judai and Yusei.

"Manjoume…Kenzan…Fubuki-san…Asuka…"

"_Jack…Crow…Kiryu…Aki…"_

"The pain that everyone suffer isn't like this. The demon born by sacrificing everyone's soul," said Judai severely while he was getting up and staring at Bronn with loathing.

"I won't forgive you!" screamed Judai as his anger finally reached the boiling point that had unleashed his power that was taking over him and Yusei.

Both Judai and Yusei were blinded by hatred for Bronn and all that was on their minds was making him suffer. That's why neither noticed the drastic change in Judai's vision and the strong pulsing that was coming from Yusei's right arm as Judai began his turn.

"Draw! /_Draw!_" both yelled, ready to dish out their vengeance on the fiend before them.

"For your sake my friends had been…All my friends…I will never forgive you!" exclaimed Judai in hatred making his now gold eyes dangerously glow.

"_I will never forgive him for destroying Judai's bonds!"_ Yusei shouted with pure rage flowing through him as well that caused the dragonhead mark on his arm to glow a dark blue color.

"I will defeat that guy! I will definitely defeat him!" proclaimed Judai, seething with fury.

"_Crush him Judai!"_

"Neos!" Judai yelled as his monster battled with Bronn's, destroying both monsters.

"Quick magic activate! Requiem Duel!" Judai suddenly announced, throwing Bronn off guard as Judai explained its affect.

"Rein…No matter how many times I beat him my anger will not calm down! …I'll beat him! ...I'll beat him! … I'll beat him!"

"_Keep on destroying him till there's nothing left!"_

"All my friends won't come back!"

"_No they can't…but neither will he!"_

"What's wrong? Quickly!" commanded Judai, eagerly waiting for more battle.

Yet Judai was denied that when Bronn admitted that he couldn't summon any monsters because of using Gate of Dark World. This clearly didn't satisfy Judai, or Yusei for that matter, however Judai finished the duel with a direct attack on Bronn, courtesy of Neos. But even when Bronn was knocked down on the ground and defeated, he still had the edacity to laugh.

"What a good look. Anger and hatred…Sadness and painful…Even though it's not enough, those negative feelings has already been around your heart," announced Bronn, wearing an amused and delighted smirk on his face.

"Shut up Bronn!/_Shut up Bronn!_" both Judai and Yusei screamed in resentment.

"Where are Johan and Freed's friends?" Judai demanded to know, which made Bronn laugh.

"I told you already! Those people's blood has seeped into the sand of this field! That Johan boy is dead!" Bronn claimed causing fear and doubt to mix with the anger Judai and Yusei was feeling already.

"You're lying! … You're lying!" exclaimed Judai, not wanting to believe that Johan was dead.

"_He's lying! I know he is!"_ Yusei stated crossly.

Yusei could see it in Bronn's eyes that he was untruthful and it pissed Yusei off that he was still continuing to mess with Judai like this.

"_How dare him! Even near death he tries to cause hurt!" _

"DON'T LIE!" yelled Judai furiously at Bronn.

Despite Judai's outburst, Bronn still carried on laughing mockingly as he too exploded into small bits of light and died.

"_BASTARD!"_ Yusei screamed out in rage making another quick but strong pulse come from his mark.

"Judai, are you ok?" Jim asked while he, O'Brian, and Sho were coming up to Judai from behind.

However his question wasn't answered because now Judai was starting to calm down as his eyes turned back to their normal color and he needed time to settle from the duel. Yusei himself was still pretty angry and was only now slowly trying to get his wits back together as his dragonhead mark was beginning to return to its normal crimson color.

"Aniki," called Sho sadly, making Judai turn to face his three remaining friends.

Again when Yusei saw Judai's friends, they turned into his.

"Sho."

"_Rua,"_ softly muttered Yusei.

Seeing the familiar image of Rua was calming Yusei down more just like how Sho's presence had calmed down Judai.

"Are you ok?" Judai asked Sho in concern.

"Johan and everyone is dead," stated Sho gloomily, taking a look around the place of the others demise.

"Yeah, but at least I will avenge them," strongly declared Judai, clenching his fist in determination before turning back to Sho.

"Sho, I'm glad to be able to see you again," Judai said in relief, unfortunately what Sho said next shocked everyone especially Judai and Yusei.

"That…what insincere words. Aniki…Aniki has been acting by yourself. Up till now you have been like the sun, giving others strength and made the impossible possible. But all of those are misunderstandings. Aniki is the type that it is okay as long as you are alright," uttered Sho before he turned an angry face at Judai.

"It doesn't matter who is sacrificed as long as it's good for the goal! Even if you can beat enemies, everyone who was sacrificed won't return! Aniki always duels for your own satisfaction!" Sho shouted at Judai.

"Sho/_Rua_," they said in surprise and hurt, but that just made Sho angrier.

"Don't call me! A person like Aniki! A person like Aniki!" screamed Sho while running out of the fortress and away from Judai with Jim trying to run after him.

Sho's words had been like throwing a cold bucket of water at Judai's face, with the bucket being thrown at him right after the water was. For Yusei it was no better. Having heard those same words with Rua's face was like his heart was being strangled. Yusei had always believed that despite his once in a while negligence towards his friends that they would still know that he was really their friend and that he never stopped caring for them. But now Yusei was starting to doubt if that was the case anymore.

"_What if they really believed that I stopped caring for them because of my recent actions? Would they really go so far as to say I wasn't their friend anymore because of it?"_ Yusei wondered as more doubt and fear plagued him.

"O'Brien…" Judai called, seeing him about to leave too.

"I did tell you to wait," O'Brien replied strictly causing a knot to form in both Judai and Yusei's throats.

"_Boomer,"_ said Yusei quietly.

Yusei wished he could turn away from the hard glare that _Boomer_ was giving him. Boomer was a friend and a person Yusei highly respected so seeing that disappointing look directed at him made Yusei feel somewhat shameful.

"Am I wrong?" Judai asked O'Brien.

"_Am I?"_ thought Yusei, thinking about how much he could've misjudged his friends' current feelings of him lately.

"Think about that yourself," was all O'Brien had to say to Judai before he left as well, leaving Judai down on his knees by himself.

"Why…what did I do wrong? I…I thought I did something that is right. But…despite that…whatever I did…everyone hasn't been on my side… Damn! …Damn! …Damn it! …I…What did I do wrong?" cried Judai, whose cries of confusion and sadness were so painful that even the fiends were absolutely silent during this moment.

"_Judai…I'm so sorry,"_ Yusei responded miserably as a few tears slipped down his cheek, feeling just how much Judai was suffering.

That was when the scene suddenly disappeared and Yusei was back in the room he had been in prior before the memory started.

"I admit that I did some things wrong…very wrong. I should've made sure they were safe instead of continuing on. I shouldn't have neglected them when I did, especially when it came to Johan. I didn't stop to consider their feelings or how much my actions would affect them. I was careless and reckless and didn't think before I acted. And because of that they and others suffered so much for my ignorance," stated Judai as he suddenly appeared beside Yusei.

"But, they were wrong as well," continued Judai.

"They expected me to protect them whenever they needed, but I can only do so much and I can't always be there. Just because I hung out with Johan so much they assumed that I stopped caring for them, but they should've known that I would never stop caring for any of my friends. They didn't consider my feelings either. Johan was like a brother to me and he even risked his life to save us when it should've been me instead. So how could they not expect me to be so motivated in finding him? I had disregarded them at some points but I never did it intentionally, I was just so worried and scared for Johan and there should have been nothing wrong with that. I mean if you were a shepherd would you be more concerned about the sheep that were close by or the sheep that was somewhere off in the woods where it could be eaten by a wolf?" he claimed with a little irritation seeping into his words near the end.

"I'm not perfect. I was a teenager just like them. I have my own needs and wants just like they had. However they saw me as some kind of savior. They put me on this high pedestal and expected me to stay on it without ever falling off. Like Sho said, I was their sun giving them strength…but even the sun will eventually burn out. It can't always be around for us forever, even though that's what we all like to believe. In that moment my light had finally burned out and instead of receiving the support and understanding that I needed, I got rejection and hate," Judai finished as a mixture of hurt and bitterness came on Judai's face.

Yusei had listened intensively to every word Judai said and he couldn't help but agree with him. Yusei felt that he too had been placed on an imaginary pedestal by his friends. He of course knew it wasn't done intentionally as he was sure Judai's friends didn't mean to either, but the fact remains that a pedestal had been created for them and they were supposed to keep standing on it.

"_But as Judai said, we can't keep staying on it forever. I know I'll fall off of it eventually, the real question is will my friends still be with me when it happens or will they turn on me like Judai's friends did to him. And if they do turn their backs on me, will I be able to endure all of the pain from it?"_ Yusei wondered to himself before he finally decided to respond.

"Their words of betrayal still hurt you don't they," Yusei replied, looking directly at Judai.

"It's like getting a scar. It hurts the most when it's fresh and though it heals over time it will never go away. It's always there reminding you of what caused it," he answered solemnly, making Yusei nod his head.

"I understand. There's a difference between forgiving, and forgetting," Yusei said just as solemnly as Judai spoke, thinking about the fiasco that happened between him and Jack three years ago.

Yusei then felt two pairs of arms embrace him and pull him closer to Judai.

"I just don't want you to ever have to experience that kind of pain for real Yusei-kun," Judai told him tenderly gazing in Yusei's eyes.

"I know you don't," stated Yusei, giving Judai a slight smile in reply.

"_And neither do I,"_ was Yusei's afterthought.

Just then Yusei was slightly thrown off when Judai let out a few chuckles.

"You know, whoever said 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me'…should've gotten their ass kicked," he joked, though Yusei could hear an edge of seriousness in Judai's voice too, which actually made Yusei's smile bigger.

"Agreed."

* * *

Yusei was being very careful not to make any noise so he wouldn't wake anybody up. He quietly walked down the stairs to the garage, remembering that Bruno was sleeping down there. Yusei successfully made it to his D-Wheel without any trouble and as silently as possible started rolling it out of the garage. When Yusei was sure he was far enough to not disturb anybody, he got on his D-Wheel and started it up.

Yusei had been driving down the highway for a while now, hoping that it would help get his thoughts together. The conversation he had with Judai in his dream was still fresh in his mind even though he had the dream days ago. But Yusei just wasn't sure what to do. He really didn't want to leave his friends, yet if Judai was right, it would be better if he did. Yusei knew deep down that he was still afraid of being hurt by his friends and from what he had experienced with Judai's memories, he didn't think he would be able to carry that much more pain inside his heart. However the real question for Yusei was could he leave even if he needed to? He cherished his bonds with his friends too much for him to just simply walk out on them like that.

"_What should I do?"_ Yusei frustratingly asked himself while subconsciously increasing his speed with vigor.

Just then Yusei was rammed from behind, forcing him out of his thoughts. Yusei had to quickly gain control back of his D-Wheel after it had started wobbling from the sudden impact. Once Yusei managed to return the D-Wheel back on course, the D-Wheel that had hit him rode up beside him. Yusei's eyes widened in shock when he saw the familiar D-Wheel and its rider; who was now riding beside him. Yet before Yusei could question the D-Wheeler, the person rammed Yusei again on his side making his D-Wheel swerve out of control. An angry and determined look displayed on Yusei's face as he got himself back on road and increased his speed to catch up with the assailant.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yusei asked out in alarm while riding up beside the person.

Nevertheless the person remained silent as he tried slamming into Yusei again. Luckily this time Yusei was able to avoid the attempt but just barely.

"Please, stop this!" desperately pleaded Yusei as a familiar but unwanted feeling started settling inside of him.

"Sorry Yusei, but this is the only way," stated the other D-Wheeler emotionlessly before they did something unexpected.

The rider suddenly started speeding up until they got a good few feet in front of Yusei. Then they made a very sharp u-turn and headed right back at Yusei. Yusei saw what was coming but unfortunately he didn't have time to avoid the head on collision. The person's D-Wheel had smashed into the front on Yusei's D-Wheel, slamming into Yusei much harder than before, making Yusei's D-Wheel to do a one eighty and causing Yusei to get knocked off his D-Wheel onto the road.

Yusei made a painful cry as his body harshly impacted the hard concrete. Luckily he had been wearing his ridding suit and his helmet so the worst Yusei got were some scratches and several bruises. Nevertheless Yusei was still suffering from the shock of the hit and was having a hard time getting himself up. As Yusei was struggling to push himself up from the ground, a heavy boot suddenly stomped down on his back bringing Yusei's body down harshly to the ground once more. Yusei winced in pain as the person's foot continued to press down harder against his back. Several snapping sounds could soon be heard before Yusei gave a painful scream as the foot was crushing the bones in his back. Tears began forming in Yusei's eyes, but not from the physical pain he was suffering from. It was once again feeling the harsh sting of betrayal from a friend that was hurting him so much.

"_Judai, I'm sorry. I should've listened,"_ sorrowfully thought Yusei before the pain became too much for him to handle and made Yusei enter unconsciousness.

**A/N: So there you have it! **

**Hope this chapter really sparked your interest. **

**Also the particular part where Yusei experiences Judai's memories in this chapter, I'm curious about how I did with it or what your opinions on it are. And can you guess who the person that was hurting Yusei was. I think I made it kind of obvious a little bit. **


	4. Do What You Want

**First off thanks for the reviews!**

**A/N: Inspiration for this chapter came from another story "Kindred Spirits" by Koros45 which is an YGO DM/5D's crossover fic featuring Yusei and Atem. It's a good story so check it out if you want.**

**Do What You Want**

Yusei looked around in confusion. The room he was in right now was unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. The room had immediately reminded Yusei of the bedroom that he, Jack, and Crow used to share at Martha's house when they were younger. In fact the only differences Yusei found in the room was that the bed was a size larger and looked and felt more comfortable, and that there were lots of pictures scattered on the walls, on top of the dresser, and night table.

Yusei not sure what else to do, decided to take a closer look at the numerous pictures in the room. He started looking at the pictures up on the walls first. A light smile touched his lips when he saw plenty of familiar and friendly faces each surrounded by their own beautifully crafted frame. Yusei then moved on to the pictures that were on the old wooden dresser. A frown instantly took its place on his features when he saw some of the pictures. Yet when his eyes landed on a particular picture, an angry scowl appeared on Yusei's face. A sudden urge to crush the picture came over Yusei and before he knew it he took the picture in his hands and started applying a heavy amount of pressure to it. The picture frame started cracking in his grip however; the sound of the glass breaking snapped Yusei out of his impulsive anger. Shock displayed in Yusei's eyes at what he almost did. He was still angry at the person yes, but he still didn't feel that it was right to break their picture into pieces. It didn't mean he was comfortable with seeing the picture though either. Coming to a conclusion, Yusei opened one of the draws of the dresser and placed the picture face down in the draw before closing it. Suddenly Yusei felt as if a burden had been lifted from him. It was strange to him how quick this happened yet he felt better from it none the less so he let it go for now.

Yusei gazed at the other photos on the dresser for a while, thinking if he really wanted to put some of them in a draw as well. Right now he felt very skeptical about the people in those photos and wasn't sure if he could trust them anymore, especially after what had happened to him on the highway. However for these pictures he realized that he still didn't want to put them away like he did the other one. So he settled for simply placing the three photos face down on top of the dresser and again Yusei felt that relief enter him after doing this.

Yusei then went over to the small wooden night table that was beside the bed. There were only two pictures on the small table, nevertheless seeing them made Yusei feel joyful. Yusei smiled as he picked up the first photo in his hand. His other hand gently brushed over the glass of the frame before he gently placed it back onto the table. The other picture beside it made Yusei's smile grow more while holding it in his hands. He gazed at the picture with tenderness before a need to have the picture with him took over Yusei. Yusei turned the photo to its back in his hand and began removing the back part from the frame. Once that was removed, he took the picture out of its frame and neatly folded the photo up before putting it in the pocket of his jeans. With the picture secure on his person, Yusei was now thinking about his next course of action.

That's when Yusei remembered the door to the room. He walked over to the door and grabbed the doorknob. Yusei was hesitant to open the door, not knowing what would be on the other side. In reality the door would lead to a hallway that would take him to the dining room of the house. However Yusei knew that this wasn't reality and that anything could be beyond the door. Nonetheless he turned the knob and the door opened leading Yusei into a different setting. Yusei's eyes widened slightly in surprise at what he saw. The large sized room was an interesting combination of the garage area in the apartment he shared with Jack and Crow, and the underground subway station that he resided in with his friends in Satellite. Yet what really caught Yusei's attention was the numerous amount of machinery, parts, blueprints, schematics, computers, etc. that were all over the place. The majority of the room was very organized and most things were situated nicely together. But there were a few places that seemed clustered and things were broken or not connected properly.

Yusei noticing this headed over to where one of the disorganized sections in the room was and began working on cleaning and repairing the area. Unfortunately no matter how hard Yusei tried, he couldn't seem to fix it up. He had been working a long time on this yet hadn't made any progress at all. This was starting to worry and bother Yusei because he hardly ever had a problem of fixing things before. Putting things together was something that was so natural and straightforward to him so he couldn't understand why he couldn't fix these parts. Yusei let out a frustrated sigh, realizing that this was just one of those things he just couldn't patch up.

Just then the picture that was in Yusei's pocket gave off a pulse that immediately grabbed his attention. Yusei took out the picture and unfolded it before it pulsed again. When it continued to pulsate, Yusei noticed that another jumbled section in the room was doing the same. He figured that the two had to be connected somehow so he walked over to the area that the pulses where coming from. Once he reached the section, the pulsing from the area and the picture stopped. Yusei somehow understood what he needed to do. He put the picture back in his pocket and started working in this area instead. Yusei was amazed at how much easier it was for him to put all the pieces together. It was like he knew were each piece went by heart and didn't have to hardly think about it. Yusei smiled to himself when he finished organizing and repairing the place in barely any time at all. Yusei then felt as if his mind had become clearer all of a sudden. Certain thoughts that baffled him before were now more coherent than ever.

_Buri…Buri._

Yusei swiftly looked around the room, hearing the strange sound nearby. It repeated again and Yusei realized it was coming from behind another door in the room. He walked over to the door and this time without any hesitation opened it. This time Yusei was outside when he stepped through the door. Yusei couldn't believe how much the place resembled how Satellite had been before. The outside was a Junkyard but strangely it didn't look messy or dysfunctional like a regular Junkyard would. There was a structured style to the piles of garbage and each pile was spaced apart to leave plenty of space to move around. Yet the most astonishing things about it were that the ground was actually green with a few plants and flowers covering it and the dark sky was lit up with multicolored stars like Christmas lights on a Christmas tree. Yusei couldn't help admiring the beautiful rare sky before he felt something rub up against his leg. Yusei quickly looked down and to his surprise he saw that it was his duel monster Bolt Hedgehog that was rubbing itself against his leg. Feeling Yusei's gaze, Bolt Hedgehop instantly looked up back at him and started making excited noises. A small smile came to Yusei's lips before he bent down and rubbed Bolt Hedgehog's head in a caring way. He was enjoying being rubbed and started nuzzling Yusei's hand with its nose.

"You were the one I heard, weren't you?" Yusei asked the small duel monster.

_Buri! Buri! Buri!_

The excited response had indeed answered Yusei's question. That's when Bolt Hedgehog started running ahead before stopping and turning to look back at Yusei in enthusiasm. Yusei getting his message started walking forward as it resumed running ahead. While Yusei was following Bolt Hedgehog to wherever it was leading him, Yusei saw more of his duel monsters as he was passing by. They all had greeted Yusei in their own way and Yusei gladly returned the favor. At one point Road Runner decided to tag along with him and nested itself comfortably in Yusei's hair, which Yusei didn't really mind at all. As Yusei continued following Bolt Hedgehog, he noticed that the surroundings were different than the place where they started. There was no more piles of trash in sight, the grass was much greener, there was more plant life and flowers, and the multicolored stars in the sky were now all a light blue and silver color. After several more minutes of walking, Bolt Hedgehog finally stopped running and Road Runner flew off Yusei's head and landed near where Bolt Hedgehog was. They both made eager noises/chirps, letting Yusei know that they had reached their destination. Yusei only needed to see the familiar figure that was now flying towards them to realize why Bolt Hedgehog had brought him here.

"Stardust," whispered Yusei as he watched the said duel monster coming in closer to where he was.

Eventually Stardust made a graceful landing in front Yusei and the other two duel monsters. Its eyes locked with Yusei's before it spoke.

_I've been waiting for you Yusei._

Hearing the seriousness in its voice let Yusei know that Stardust had something important to say to him.

"I'm here and I'm listening," he replied, telling Stardust that it had his full attention.

It acknowledged this before continuing to speak.

_Are you content with your current destiny as a Signer? _

To say Yusei didn't expect a question like that was an understatement. He mauled the question over and over in his head in hopes of coming up with an answer to it because the truth was that he wasn't sure how he really felt about being a Signer. It was something that had been forced on him. No one had ever asked him if he wanted to be a Signer. Not that he regretted being one either. He was glad that he had the power to help save people from things they couldn't handle. He certainly was a person who liked to be useful as well. But being a Signer, especially the leader, had really taken its toll on him. Yusei had lost count of how many times he needed to be courageous in front of everyone when deep down he was probably the most scared. How many times he had to be strong for the others when at times he felt he was weak. How many times he had to encourage and comfort everyone when he was probably the one that needed it the most. How many times he had to neglect his own troubles to help solve others.

"_How many times have I put everyone's needs before my own because of my responsibilities?"_ Yusei thought forlornly.

"I…I honestly don't know. I appreciate what being a Signer has given me. I've grown stronger as a duelist and a person. I was able to help finally get the Daedalus Bridge built between Neo Domino and Satellite. And I have frie…helped and saved a lot of people," stated Yusei calmly even though he made that hesitation/change in his last sentence.

Of course his monsters weren't fooled. They knew that Yusei's uncertainty of his friends trust was hurting him a lot right now. Bolt Hedgehog and Road Runner went over to Yusei and started rubbing comfortingly against his legs, trying to console Yusei the best they could. Yusei smiled at the warm display and returned it by rubbing them both back affectionately. Stardust too wanted to console Yusei. It knew better than anyone how much Yusei has been damaged emotionally. That's why it was here now.

_But you have suffered for it as well._

Yusei gave a dejected sigh knowing how true Stardust was about that statement.

"I have. But I can't let that stop me from doing what I have to do. I never have before and I'm not going to now," confirmed Yusei with determination.

Now Stardust knew that Yusei's response would have made pretty much anyone proud to hear. He could picture Ancient Fairy Dragon showing admiration for this answer. He could picture Blackfeather Dragon and Black Rose Dragon completely agreeing with the answer. He could picture Red Demons not even bringing up the subject in the first place. Heck, he could even picture the Crimson Dragon itself be gratified by it. The only one Stardust knew who would have shared his feelings on the matter was its long lost comrade. For that dragon had been chosen as the original leader of the Signer Dragons and had given leadership over to Stardust before he had moved on.

A bit of amusement entered Stardust when he remembered how much he wanted to understand the dragon and the role of leadership, and how the dragon would say as little about the subject or won't even answer the questions he would constantly ask him. But now Stardust understood why the dragon refused to give any information regarding being the leader. Sharing the knowledge of the leader was also sharing the burdens and suffering of the leader. Having taken the role of leader for a long time now, he realized how true that was. Whenever he thinks of this, he is always reminded of the human saying 'Ignorance is bliss'. And being the leader, especially of the Signers and/or Signer Dragons that was a fact. The leader can only share but so much of their feelings, thoughts, or lives in general. If they don't do this then they reveal weakness and the weakness will spread throughout the group, which cannot be afforded to happen with the Signers and their dragons. The leaders have to bottle it up inside not because they want to but because they have to. In order to protect everyone, they have to hurt themselves. That what Stardust learned was the price of being the leader. He knew that Yusei had learned the exact same thing too and why Stardust had to say what he said next.

_No destiny, no matter how important it is, is worth this much pain._

As soon as Stardust uttered those words, he felt the displeasure coming from his sovereign pouring though. It knew where Stardust was going with this and it didn't like it at all. Stardust was doing his best to ignore his master and continue on but then it started working on pulling Stardust out of Yusei's mind.

"Stardust, what's wrong?" asked Yusei worryingly, seeing Stardust struggling in pain.

But Stardust couldn't answer since it was trying its best to fight the pull of its superior. Nevertheless Stardust knew it was quickly losing the battle and felt itself slowly slipping from Yusei's subconscious. In that moment however, the pull was severed and its presence was the once being forced out of Yusei's mind. When Stardust could no longer feel his sovereign's interference, he gave a mental appreciation to ones that had helped him. After that Stardust' s eyes met with Yusei's and the concern Yusei had in his eyes left and was replaced with understanding. With both knowing that the hindrance was over, the conversation was ready to be resumed.

_You have been given the opportunity to change your destiny from a Signer. The destiny that awaits you can lead to many things. Good…or bad. Yet either way you will have the freedom that you could never have as a Signer. And I know that you would be truly happy no matter the circumstances. _

Yusei was considering everything Stardust had told him. He had noted that Stardust hadn't mentioned how having this change of destiny would be better or worse for everybody else.

"_But maybe that's his point. This isn't about other people, the Signers, and the Crimson Dragon. This is about me, my well being, and what I want,"_ he thought as the idea of no longer being a Signer was becoming more favorable to him.

_You have already unknowingly commenced on transitioning from your current destiny. But do you really want to change your destiny permanently? _

"Yes," Yusei replied before he could even process what he just said.

When Yusei did realize what he answered, he was astonished how quickly the response came out of his mouth before he even thought about the question.

"_Was I suffering so much that I became so desperate for a way out?"_ Yusei thought to himself in wonder.

Yet soon Yusei started feeling a little ashamed of himself for wanting to get out of his responsibilities like that. Yet the understanding and calming look Stardust gave him was making him feel better.

_There is no reason to feel shame for wanting to be human. Nor is there for a duel monster. That is why I will be joining you in your new destiny. _

Suddenly Yusei heard more voices nearby and to his surprise saw the rest of his duel monsters appear in the area. Even though all of them were talking all at once, Yusei was amazed that he could hear what each of them was saying to him. Understanding what they were telling that they agreed with Stardust words made Yusei feel joy to see just how much all of his monsters care about him

_As you can see they all will follow you as well._

This caused a genuine smile to spread on Yusei's face as a tear slid down his cheek while facing all of his monsters.

"Thank you…all of you," stated Yusei gratefully, glad that all of his monsters would stay by his side.

_Yusei, once more I must ask if you are truly ready to take this great change in destiny._

"I am," answered Yusei with reassurance in his voice.

_Then it is time to fully accept it._

As Stardust said this, the picture in Yusei's pocket pulsed once more. Yusei took out the picture and looked at it again. Yusei didn't know why, but just then something was urging him to place the picture over his chest. So Yusei held the picture firmly against his chest right over his heart and the photo began to glow a black color. A part of Yusei felt something wrong with this and was telling him to let go of the picture. But the strange familiarity and comfort the picture was giving off was the most appeasing to Yusei at that moment so he ignored the warning and instead pressed the picture closer to his heart as much as possible, needing to feel more of the wonderful sensations the picture was giving him. The glowing picture then began entering Yusei's body and literally went inside his heart. After the picture was gone, Yusei was then caught off guard when he felt a searing pain on his right arm. He instantly pulled down the glove that was covering his right arm and moved his sleeve up to see what was happening on his arm. He was stunned seeing that his dragonhead mark wasn't glowing its usual crimson color but a dark blue color instead. Eventually Yusei went down on his knees, griping his right arm as more pain spread throughout his arm while the mark began changing and forming into a new shape. His monsters were instantly at his side, doing their best to encourage him through the pain, which was helping Yusei deal better with it. It wasn't long after the mark finished its transformation that the pain finally stopped.

With the pain gone, Yusei could get his bearings back. When he saw the new mark on his arm, he couldn't help gazing at in admiration. The mark was composed of two squares that overlapped each other to make the shape of an eight pointed star with a circle inside it. In the center of the star were two small rectangles crossing each other like a plus sign with a smaller circle surrounding it. Yusei brushed his fingers over the mark causing it to glow its dark blue color. That's when some kind of mental barrier broke inside Yusei and long and forgotten memories bombarded through his mind. So many memories were hitting him all at once causing Yusei a mild headache. However when all of the memories had fully returned to Yusei, it was than that everything was made clear to him. A genuine smile made its way onto his lips at finally being free after such a long time of hiding. He now was back to what he was truly meant to be.

**A/N: Hope you liked this chapter!**

**If you want a better idea of what the star mark on Yusei's arm looks like, it is the one of the Palpa geoglyphs; The Sun & Star geometric symbols. **


	5. Nobody Knows

**A/N: Another long chapter for you guys! This chapter mainly focuses on the rest of the other main characters and flashbacks along with a few interesting things included as well. **

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**2random2: **you read the last chapter carefully, Yusei is actually in his mind (soul room) so his physical injuries won't show. 2. You'll find out in the next chapter. 3. The picture of the answer to number two. 4. Again read the last chapter very carefully and you'll see where I hinted that Judai was still around somewhere. 5. Do you mean mentally or physically? And maybe, I'm not sure yet. 6. Will do!

**PoseidonDemon: **Don't worry this has nothing to do with Dark Signers. This is something completely different. You'll find out about Yusei's new destiny as the story continues. Also the dragon I was referring to was the unnamed fifth Signer dragon that has yet to show up in the anime.

**P.S. You all might get confused with this chapter too but don't worry explanations for this chapter and the last one are given at the end.**

**Nobody Knows**

Everything was relatively quiet in the medium sized white hospital room. The only thing that was making a sound was the constant steady beeps from the electroencephalograph machine that was currently monitoring a person's brainwaves. The said person was lying comatose in a hospital bed wearing only jean pants with heavy bandages wrapped around their midsection and plastered along their back. All in all the person didn't look too bad in condition but still didn't look a hundred percent well either.

However that person wasn't the only one who was in the room at the moment. Two other people were there, both sitting carefully on the sides of the bed. They had worry clearly written on their faces as they looked down at the unconscious bedridden person.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" one of them asked the other in concern.

A serious expression crossed the other person's face, before responding.

"I believe he will make the right choice," the person answered.

"I do to but it still doesn't stop me from feeling worried," the first person replied back.

"I understand, I feel the same way," admitted the second person.

After their short conversation was over, they remained silent and continued to wait for any signs of changes in the wounded person's condition.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon and so far everything in the Poppo Time apartment had been normal for the most part.

"Where the hell could he be?" asked an enraged Jack while pounding his fist on the table.

Jack's outburst had instantly interrupted the somewhat normal atmosphere that had existed all day and easily gained the attention of Crow and Bruno who were in the basement/garage of the apartment with him. The two didn't need to ask who Jack was talking about and in truth they were wondering the same thing.

"He probably decided that he just needed some time to himself," Bruno suggested while he continued typing away on the computer he was working on.

"Even if that's true, I still can't help the troubled feeling I'm getting," commented Crow but this just made Jack angrier.

"Stop trying to sugarcoat it! It's obvious he's avoiding us! He's been doing it ever since we had that fight!" exclaimed Jack while abruptly standing up causing the chair he was in to fall to the floor.

A frown quickly spread on the other males' faces knowing that there was truth in Jack's words. Yusei had been doing pretty much that by not staying in the same room with anybody for more than ten minutes, keeping conversations to a minimum when one of them tried talking to him, going out by himself almost all of the time, or going straight to working or sleep to avoid any interaction with someone.

"He has been acting strange lately," Crow admitted, since there was no point in denying it.

Bruno didn't comment on that, but the sudden lack of typing sounds and the glum look on his face had spoken for him. Bruno had been confused by Yusei's strange behavior as well, remembering the first time Yusei started acting different towards him.

**Flashback**

Yusei had entered the basement ready to start working on modifying the program for their D-Wheel's momentum output, yet he quickly saw that Bruno was already at the computer working on it. A flash of suspiciousness displayed on Yusei's face before his normal features became normal again.

"I thought you were going to wait for me?" Yusei asked as he walked over to where Bruno was.

Hearing Yusei made Bruno stop momentarily and turn to face Yusei.

"I was, but you seem so exhausted lately I thought I'd just let you rest instead," he answered casually, but that wasn't a reasonable answer for Yusei.

"That doesn't mean you still couldn't have waited for me, does it?" strictly questioned Yusei, causing a slight frown on Bruno's face.

"Well I didn't know when you'd wake up so I thought it would be best to get a head start on things," Bruno explained.

"I'd still prefer that you wait for me," Yusei stated firmly.

"Ah, sorry Yusei, I wait for you next time then," Bruno assured him hoping that would ease Yusei.

"Let's get to work," was all Yusei said to that as he sat down at the other computer and started working right away.

Bruno's frown grew at Yusei's lack of responsiveness but decided to continue getting back to work as well.

Once they got to work, the place became silent except for the sound of the keys on the keyboards being pressed at a prompt speed. It was clear that the heavy silence was bothering Bruno because the usual pleasant look he gets on his face when he's working, especially with Yusei, isn't there. Nonetheless Yusei didn't seem bothered at all by it, whether he was just ignoring the tense quiet or that he wasn't aware of it, Bruno didn't know. Though the silence wasn't the only thing that was bothering Bruno. Bruno had taken quick note of Yusei's occasional glances at his work. At first Bruno thought Yusei was looking so he could understand and know what he was doing on his part of the program. Yet Bruno realized that that couldn't be the case because Yusei would usually ask him what he was doing and the fact that Yusei was trying to be inconspicuous about his glances proved it had to be something else. Three hours of intense silence and subtle stares was driving Bruno crazy. He wanted to ask Yusei about his "secret" gazing or for Yusei to at least say one word to him. Yet when Yusei finally did decide to speak, Bruno regretted wishing for it.

"Bruno?" suddenly called Yusei, surprising Bruno and making him turn to Yusei.

"What is it Yusei?" asked Bruno, wondering what Yusei had to say after all this time.

"Have any of your memories came back yet?" he wondered as he continued typing and keeping his eyes on the screen before him.

"What?" said Bruno in shock, having been caught off guard by the question.

"Have any of your memories came back yet?" Yusei repeated seriously, this time facing Bruno directly.

Once Bruno got over the shock, he thought about the question Yusei asked.

"No, not really," Bruno told Yusei, causing Yusei's lips to form a straight line.

"You're lying," stated Yusei strictly, which somehow made Bruno feel like he was being prosecuted. The stern look Yusei was giving him wasn't helping either.

"What do you remember Bruno," Yusei demanded to know.

A gulp went down Bruno's throat. He knew he didn't have anything to actually be nervous about, but the way Yusei was acting was making nervous anyway.

"I-I have only gotten a flash of something," confessed Bruno hesitantly.

"A flash of what?" insisted Yusei, eager to know any piece of information at this point.

"I'm riding along on a road but then a cat runs out onto the road in front of me. That's really it. I don't know what I was riding on or what I was doing at the time," explained Bruno causing a puzzled yet thoughtful expression on Yusei's face before he looked back at Bruno.

"Why didn't you just tell me that in the first place?" Yusei questioned, giving Bruno an apprehensive stare.

"I…I didn't know what to make of it so I didn't think it was important," he muttered uneasily with his head slightly lowered since Yusei was making him more nervous.

"Every piece of information, no matter how small is important," remarked back Yusei.

Bruno knew Yusei had made a valid point and was beginning to feel kind of guilty for not saying anything sooner.

"Sorry Yusei, you're right. I should have mentioned it sooner," Bruno apologized in a genuine voice, causing the hard look Yusei was giving him to falter.

"Why don't we take a break and get back to work later," suddenly suggested Yusei while saving his work before getting up from his seat.

Bruno looked at Yusei in shock, making Yusei raise his brow at him.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, knocking Bruno out of his stuffer.

"Oh, no I'm fine," answered Bruno while nervously rubbing the back of his head.

Yusei knew he wasn't telling the truth again but decided to let it slide this time.

"Alright then, I'll see you in an hour," Yusei said casually as he headed for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Bruno asked curiously.

Yusei opened the door before looking back at Bruno to answer his question.

"I'm going out to get something to eat...Do you want anything?" questioned Yusei.

"No thanks, I'm good," replied Bruno with a smile.

Yusei simply nodded in acknowledgment before heading out the door. This had left Bruno alone with his thoughts on what had just happened between him and Yusei.

"_First he tells me that he doesn't want me to work alone. Next, he kept double checking my work. Then he asks and drags out answers about my memory. And lastly for the first time since I've known him, he's taking a break from working before he's completely finished….Something is definitely going on with him,"_ Bruno thought with a serious look on his face.

Yusei had returned in an hour like he said he would and Bruno saw that he was carrying a few bags in his hands. Bruno couldn't hold out on his curiosity so he asked Yusei what was in the bags.

"Food for later," he simply answered before walking up the stairs to the kitchen.

Once Yusei had come back down to the garage, he immediately went back to work without uttering a word. Bruno wanted to say something but decided to just go back to work instead. While they were working, Bruno had noticed that Yusei seemed to be a little more at ease than he was before. Granted, he was still taking peeks but the earlier tenseness seemed to have diminished some.

"I'm taking a break," stated Yusei after five hours of nonstop working.

"Again?" questioned Bruno in astonishment, making an amused smile came on Yusei's face.

"Yes Bruno again," he responded before heading upstairs.

Bruno gave a sigh after Yusei left knowing that he too had to stop working since he promised Yusei that he wouldn't work without him anymore. By the fifteenth time Bruno glanced at the time, he was becoming very annoyed. For four hours he had nothing to do and it was driving him crazy. He took another glance at the time and then at the stairs hoping Yusei was about to enter, but after ten more minutes there was still no Yusei.

"_We'll never finish at this rate!"_ Bruno complained, not liking how much time had been wasted waiting for Yusei to come back.

When Yusei did finally come back a small grin formed on his lips at seeing an agitated Bruno hitting his head repeatedly against the table that greeted him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, doing his best to keep the chuckle that was dying to come out.

"What took you so long?" Bruno asked back, trying his best to not let his irritation show.

Yet Yusei could tell anyway and decided it was best to answer the question even though he was a little embarrassed about it.

"I accidentally fell asleep," Yusei admitted in a flustered tone, causing Bruno to fall out of his chair.

That had actually made a genuine laugh slip out of Yusei's mouth. Bruno's eyes widened slightly, never having heard Yusei laugh before. This made him look at Yusei and notice right away that he looked more lively than normal.

"Let's get back to work. I think I've kept you waiting long enough," said Yusei with a smile before sitting down at the computer.

Bruno could only utter a small agreement, not exactly sure what was going on with Yusei at the moment. After a few more hours of working on the computer, a huge smile formed on Yusei's face before putting his hands behind his head and leaning his back against the chair he was sitting in.

"I'm done," cheerfully announced Yusei, which surprised Bruno.

"You are?" he asked, having a hard time believing that because of the breaks Yusei had taken.

"That's what I just said isn't it?" replied Yusei with a light smirk on his lips.

Seeing that Yusei was enjoying his shocked reaction, Bruno quickly composed himself and responded back.

"I'm almost done myself," he commented casually.

However this just made Yusei's smirk grow while taking a much more noticeable glance at Bruno's work.

"I can see that," Yusei teased back.

Bruno didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't sure what to make of that. Yusei's personality has seemed to have gone under a witty change all of a sudden.

"_I repeat, something is definitely going on with him,"_ thought Bruno.

**End Flashback**

A dejected sigh left Bruno's mouth at the memory. From then on every time that he and Yusei had worked together it would go something like that. Yusei would continuously watch what he was doing, ask him more about his memory, and would take breaks on occasion. Even now Bruno still couldn't understand how Yusei was working more efficiently when he was taking all those breaks.

As Bruno, along with Crow and Jack were mulling over the mystery of Yusei's strange behavior, Aki, Rua, and Ruka, had just entered the apartment. The three were dressed in their Duel Academy uniforms, indicating that they had just left from school. Rua, being as energetic as ever, was the first down the stairs and the first to greet the others.

"Hey guys! What's...uh...did someone die?" Rua asked, finally taking notice of the gloomy faces on the three men.

If anything, that statement increased the intensity of the atmosphere in the room.

"Really Rua, of all the things you could've said you choose that," scolded Ruka after getting beside her brother.

"Where's Yusei?" immediately asked Aki, having been the first to notice the missing member of their group.

The tense expression that came over the men's faces confirmed that Yusei was the reason for their sour mood.

"We don't know where he is," answered Crow in a forlorn way.

"He's avoiding us again," Jack added, crossing his arms angrily with a slight scowl on his face.

This made frowns appear on Aki's and the twins' faces. They too had also taken notice of how distant and strange Yusei had been acting lately.

"I'm worried about him. I think something is wrong," Aki conveyed seriously while subconsciously holding her right arm where her mark was located as the dream that she had had a while ago played again in her mind.

**Flashback**

The first thing Aki noticed when she opened her eyes, was that she was no longer in her bedroom anymore. She was surprised to see that she was outside, laying face down on some kind of hard ground rock under a very dark sky. She also could feel something cold and metal wrapped tightly around both her hands, letting her know that she was chained up.

"You idiot!" Aki suddenly heard someone shout near her.

This made Aki beyond confused, wondering who was shouting. However before she could wonder anymore about whatever was going on; she was caught off guard when her body started sitting up by itself.

"_Why am I moving?"_ thought Aki frantically, not knowing what was happening.

Aki started trying to move any of the muscles in her body including her mouth, but alas she realized with dread that she couldn't do any of those things. She didn't like this one bit and it scared her to know she had no control over her body anymore.

"_It's just like that time when Divine took control of me during my duel with Misty,"_ she murmured to herself in dismay.

Aki never told the others how much that experience frightened her. She remembered how helpless she felt as she had watched her own body do things against her own will and obey another's. How much she screamed yet no one could hear her, only the voice of her controlled self. She had been so happy when she had heard the familiar voice of Yusei that helped free her. He had no idea how much she wanted to embrace him at that moment and thank him for freeing her from that nightmare.

Thinking back on that made Aki want Yusei to be beside her and help her like he did before.

"_Yusei, please help me,"_ pleaded Aki, praying that somehow he would magically show up and make everything better like he usually does.

Unfortunately her prayers were answered, but not in the way she ever expected.

"We all came with you here to save…right? But then you went all by yourself and in the end you ignore us!" she heard the same voice shout out.

Yet this time because of the change of her position, from the corner of her eye she could now see who the person talking was.

"_Jack?"_ she thought in shock, seeing the said person to her left.

Aki then soon noticed that it wasn't just her and Jack there as well. She saw Crow right beside her and Kiryu to her right. She could see that they too were chained and had just got up themselves.

"_What in the world is going on here?"_ wondered Aki, feeling more confused each second.

Nevertheless, she was soon brought out of her thoughts when she heard Jack speak again.

"You're always like that! You're always selfish and think about yourself! We all trusted you because of friendship but in the end…We all who all trusted you are the idiot!" he yelled as he pointed accusingly at someone down below.

Aki was surprised to hear how angry Jack sounded and what he was saying. She wondered who he was talking to like that and figured that person must have done something bad to make Jack react like that. But when she saw the person Jack was pointing at, her heart stopped.

"_Yusei?"_ thought Aki in complete shock, not only at seeing him down below but that he was the one Jack was yelling at.

Before she could process anymore the unexpected scream of Jack caught her attention. Aki watched horrified as his body started glowing before exploding into numerous yellow small particles. She didn't understand how, but she knew that seeing this meant that Jack was dead. Everything in her mind froze at the knowledge that Jack was now gone. She could feel a strong amount of fear grip her, making her cold inside.

"C'mon and attack me…attack me again. All my damage will cause the Sacred Scriptures of Wickedness to scribe a text on it…And the next page will be one of them," the fiend said, causing more coldness to enter Aki's heart.

"If he attacks, either one of us will disappear next…" stated Crow, confirming what Aki didn't want to be true.

"_No! This can't be happening!"_ Aki screamed in despair as fear seemed to take over more of her mind with each passing second.

"I don't want it! Why do we have to disappear during this duel?" she heard herself say out loud and agreed wholeheartedly with her statement.

That's right! It's all… fault! It's all because of your selfishness!" shouted Crow at Yusei to which Aki suddenly felt that the comment was true.

The sadness she was feeling was turning into pain and something was telling her that it was Yusei that was causing her to feel this way.

"_Why are you doing this to us Yusei?"_ cried Aki as the thought of the one who had saved her was now doing nothing but hurting her.

At this point she was barely paying attention to the duel that was happening below her. All she could focus on was the pain and sadness she was feeling because of Yusei.

"Don't do it!" she suddenly heard Crow shout angrily, bringing her back to reality.

"Save us!" she heard herself scream in desperation.

"Yusei!" said Kiryu in fright, causing her attention to immediately shift to the duel which she regretted immediately.

To her horror she saw that despite their pleading Yusei still attacked his opponent, sealing their fates.

"_How…how could he?"_ Aki thought in shock, not wanting to believe her eyes.

"Why do you sacrifice us…just to save Freed's friends?" Crow yelled at Yusei.

"It's painful. Not only physical pain, but the pain of a person's spirit who was betrayed by a friend," stated Kiryu, looking at Yusei with discontent.

She didn't want to see anymore of this. She was losing herself in a sea of loneliness and sadness, a very familiar place to her. This was something she thought that she would never have to experience again because Yusei had kept her from it. Yet now he was pulling her back down in it.

"I have to bear with this sadness…of being betrayed by you," her voice spoke in sadness.

"_Once again I am betrayed by the person I most trusted,"_ was Aki's last thought before she began feeling tremendous pain throughout her body.

Aki mentally screamed as the pain grew stronger and she felt as if her heart was ready to explode. Aki could now hear herself screaming out loud and then she felt her heart stop instantly as she agonizingly left the world around her.

Aki bolted up from her bed with her eyes now wide open in fright. She was panting heavily while sweat cascaded down her face. It took Aki several moments before her breathing had returned to normal. She then quickly got out of her bed and made her way to the bathroom before turning on the sink and splashing water on her face. Aki then looked at herself in the mirror and saw how shaken up and drained her appearance was. She knew she needed to get her mind back together so she could properly think about what just happened. She began taking deep breaths and risked closing her eyes, trying to bring some form of tranquility back into her mind.

Unfortunately, her attempt was shattered when she felt a painful burning on her upper arm where her mark was. By instinct her left hand griped her right arm as another surge of pain went through her arm, bringing her down to her knees.

"_Y-Yusei,"_ thought Aki, realizing through the connection of their marks that hers was reacting because something was going on with Yusei.

That's when she felt it. A growing anger that was both frightening and deadly. Another shot of pain hit her again as the feeling was quickly turning from anger to rage. This completely terrified Aki. She never experienced so much aggression, even when she had been in her Black Rose Witch persona.

"_T-this can't be Yusei...can it?"_ she thought desperately, hoping that this burning hatred wasn't really coming from him.

Just when she believed she would collapse, the pain had finally stopped. Once again she had to wait for her breath to return to its normal pace after the ideal. She leaned her head back against the wall in exhaustion while trying to figure out what had just happened to her.

**End Flashback**

Aki visible shook from the memory. She had no idea if that dream was telling her something or whether it was simple a product of the fears that still remained with her. She just hoped that it was the later and not the first one. Yet something told her that wasn't the case.

"_Could something have happened with her too?"_ Ruka wondered, having noticed Aki's sudden action and the extreme concern on her face.

Ruka gained a sad look on her face before clenching her own Signer mark barring arm. She could never forget what had happened a few nights ago.

**Flashback**

Ruka was currently sleeping peacefully in her bed until a voice started calling out to her.

_Ruka…_

The said girl started tossing and turning in her bed as the voice grew louder.

_Ruka! Wake up!_

That's when her eyes snapped open at the urgent sound of the familiar voice. She sat up in the bed and began rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

_Ruka!_

Now that the sleep had been cleared from her mind, she recognized the voice right away.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon, what is it?" Ruka responded, wondering why the dragon was calling her at this time of the night.

_Something is happening to your brother and the other Signers._

Ruka's eyes widened in fret before she rapidly turned her eyes onto her brother. When she noticed the sweat that poured down his face and his constant uncontrollable movements, she swiftly got out of bed and went over to her brother's bedside.

"Rua…Rua!" she shouted while shaking her twin in hopes of waking him up.

Alas Rua was still asleep and seemed to be getting worse as his face gained an upset look on it.

"No….everyone…." Rua groaned with grief and dread in his sleep.

This only made Ruka worry more; figuring that whatever nightmare Rua was having was really bad.

_I'm afraid it is much more than that._

"Why, what's going on with Rua!" she frantically asked her dragon.

_A sense a powerful outside force is affecting your brother and the other Signers. But I am not sure what exactly it is doing to them._

This news startled Rua causing determination and anxiousness to appear on her face.

"What can I do?" she asked seriously.

_We can try and break them from its hold before it causes any damage to them._

Ruka nodded in understanding as Ancient Fairy Dragon told her what to do. Ruka then let her left hand grip her brother's hand while she placed her right hand on his forehead. Now that she was actually touching her brother, she could feel just how drenched of sweat Rua was. His face continued bearing an anguished expression making her need to help her brother grow even more. Quickly remembering what Ancient Fairy told her, she closed her eyes and tried to tap into the power of her Signer mark. In just a few seconds she could already feel the familiar sensation on her upper arm letting her know her mark was now glowing.

_That's it Rua! Keep focusing!_

Heading the dragon's advice, Ruka closed her eyes tighter and concentrated harder on the power of her mark. Ruka was surprised yet pleased when she began to feel the other Signers through their marks. Though her happiness didn't last long when she suddenly felt an unfamiliar powerful presence surrounding their auras as well. But what concerned her most was when she realized that the presence was around Yusei more than anyone else. Ruka didn't want to admit it, but the amount of power that unknown presence was exhibiting scared her. On top of that it felt very dark too.

_Ruka you must be brave. We need to free them now._

Ruka knew Ancient Fairy was right so she swallowed her fear and focused on helping her friends. Since the presence was circling Yusei the most, she knew she had to work on freeing him first. She focused only on Yusei and pictured his mark in her mind. Ruka could feel her dragon's power and her own mark start to pulse in power, both giving her encouragement to go on. A small smile touched her lips when she could felt Yusei's familiar warm essence more clearly than before. She was getting closer and closer to his essence and as soon as she reaches it, she would be ready to pull it away from the dark entity. But just as she was inches away from it, that dark presence swiftly retaliated. It haltered her progress and forcefully pushed her away from Yusei's aura. The attack was so strong that it managed to send her falling to the floor of the bedroom. Ruka winced at the sudden hard impact to the floor and the pain she felt in her head from that mental attack wasn't helping either.

_Ruka, are you alright?_

"Yeah, I'm ok. I have a small headache now but other than that I'm alright," she answered before another voice she never heard before spoke.

_Child, I suggest you not try that again._ Y_ou have no idea who you are up against._

Ruka was completely shocked when the translucent form of a creature she's never seen before suddenly materialized in front of her. Ruka was a little frightened by the feminine creature's appearance. It looked like some kind of mismatched demon. It was mostly pale pink skinned but was also black on certain parts of its body with large black purple dragon-like wings attached to its back. Its face for the most part wouldn't look too bad if not for the third vertically placed red eye on the middle of its forehead.

Ruka visibly flinched when its dichromatic teal and gold eyes looked sharply down at her. However one glace at her ailing brother, managed to bring back some of her confidence.

"I don't care! I won't let you hurt my brother and friends!" she declared with determination.

Yet this only made the creature amused as it folded its arms and let a smirk form on its pastel blue lips.

_And what makes you think I am?_

Ruka wasn't expecting that response. Even though she could clearly hear the mirth in its words she could also catch a trace of honesty there as will.

"_That's strange. From what I've experienced the bad guy would always gloat about how much pain and destruction they are causing to their enemies. But this monster is obviously not one of those types,"_ Ruka contemplated, no longer sure how to responds to the monster's comeback.

Though Ruka didn't have to reply because the spirit form of Ancient Fairy Dragon at that moment appeared beside Ruka and retorted back for her.

_You are causing them suffering. I can sense their pain._

The abrupt emergence of the dragon did not bother the creature at all. In fact the dragon's presence seemed to amuse it more. Its eyes sparked with mischief before pointing a finger at itself and spoke in a clear phony innocent tone.

_I am doing no such thing._

This irritated the female dragon. Ancient Fairy was starting to dislike the one in front of her more and more.

_Your power reeks all over them!_

The creature continuing with its teasing, tilled its head slightly while a nonchalant expression showed on its face.

_So what if it does? It doesn't mean I have done anything to them. If you want to blame someone for their suffering then blame that Crimson Dragon of yours._

"What do you mean?" questioned Ruka, surprised by what the monster just said.

Both Ruka and the Signer dragon were amazed at how quickly the creature's features went from playful to serious in a second.

_As I said, I have no intention of harming anyone. I was simply trying to help one of your fellow Signers. Yet that dragon thought otherwise and decided to butt in where it didn't belong. So now the rest of the Signers and you brother have to suffer for its interference._

Ruka was processing everything the creature just told her. She easily knew that the Signer that it was talking about was Yusei but she didn't know if it was really trying to help him or not and if anything else it said was true. After all when she had been tapping into her connection with the Signers, the monster's presence was just there. It didn't seem to be doing anything at all.

"_Could it be really trying to help or is it just a trick?"_ Ruka wondered, not sure what to believe.

However her dragon didn't have any doubts that the creature before them was bluffing and wasn't afraid to say so.

_How dare you! Our sovereign would do no such thing! If it did interfere it was to protect the Signers from danger, which means you are a treat to them!_

The monster actually sighed as it folding its arms in an annoyed manner before speaking in a bored tone.

_What I told you was the truth but believe what you want._

Just as Ancient Fairy was ready to make a hostile reply, a sudden cry from Ruka gained her immediate attention.

_Ruka!_

The dragon was extremely worried when it saw Rua kneeing on the floor in pain while clenching her arm where her mark was now glowing intensively.

_Ruka, what's wrong?_

"It's Yusei! Something's wrong with him!" she cried out in agony as a few tears were coming from her eyes.

Ruka's statement made the dragon glare angrily at the other spirit in the room.

_It appears your lies can only hold for so long._

Amusement displayed on the monster's face once more as it closed its two eyes while wearing a small smirk on its lips.

_It's amazing how youth and naivety fit so well together._

If one thing Ancient Fairy didn't like it was having been reminded that she was technically the youngest out of the Signer dragons despite her being over five thousand years old. Yet before the other could retort to the insult, gold light surrounded the creature and then to the dragon's surprise became corporal. It then started walking toward Ruka, who was still withering in pain on her knees.

_Get away from her!_

The dragon's warning fell on deaf ears as the creature continued moving toward the little girl. When it reached the girl, it kneeled down to her height and placed one of its brown claws over the area where her mark was located. Its eyes glowed in its teal and gold colors and after a few seconds the glow of Ruka's mark faded away.

"_The pain's stopped,"_ Ruka thought in astonishment, shocked that the monster had helped her.

_Even brave little girls need someone to help them every now and then._

Ruka blushed at the complement that was given to her and swore she saw indulgence flash thought the monster's eyes. It then glanced at the still sleeping Rua for a few moments before standing back up and facing Ruka again with a shadow of a smile on its lips.

_Your brother will wake up soon._

"Is he going to be alright?" Ruka asked immediately, concern written on her features as well as a silent plea to the creature to give an honest answer to her question.

Its smile grew a little as the playfulness in its eyes returned.

_I said I wasn't here to hurt anyone didn't I?_

Sensing that the words held truth in them, a relieved smile broke out on Ruka's face.

"Thank you," Ruka replied with a slight bow to which the monster gave a curt nod in response.

Just then the creature gained a focused expression and closed its eyes only to reopen them few seconds later with a slight grin on its face.

_Well this has been fun but I have to go now._

The same gold light surrounded the monster again and soon it reverted into its spiritual form. It was getting ready to leave before Ruka's voice interrupted.

"Wait!" the girl shouted, making the spirit cease in its actions and give the girl a curious look.

_Yes?_

"What's your name?" Ruka asked, wanting to know at least one thing about the creature before her.

The question made a small chuckle come out of its mouth before it spoke in an impish way.

_I'm afraid I can't answer that…I'm not that nice._

After that the monster disappeared leaving a stupefied blinking Ruka and a really annoyed dragon spirit in the room.

_That's clearly an understatement._

Ruka was snapped out of her stuffer from Ancient Fairy's comment. Ruka was a little upset that the dragon seemed to still greatly disliking the other spirit. Sure at first she was very skeptical and didn't trust it, but it started to show her that it wasn't all bad to some degree.

"No Yusei!" suddenly shouted Rua while bolting up in the bed.

Seeing that her brother was finally awake, Ruka rushed quickly to his side.

"Rua, are you ok?" she asked her brother with a worried voice.

Rua didn't answer right away since he was still recovering from his dream. Yet when he finally did he turned to his sister.

"Yeah, I think so," he groaned with a bit of sleep still in his voice.

Nevertheless Ruka insisted on checking her brother over herself to make sure. By the forth check Rua was fully awake and was getting irritated with his sister "smothering" all over him.

"Come on Ruka you can stop now! I told you I'm ok!" Rua claimed while brushing his sister's hands away from him.

Ruka sighed at Rua's antics but she was glad because it meant that he was acting normal again.

"If you're sure then," she stated simply, knowing when to leave her brother alone.

"_At least I know it was honesty about Rua not being hurt,"_ Ruka thought to herself.

_But it doesn't mean it wasn't lying about everything else._

Ruka knew Ancient Fairy Dragon had a point but she was willing to give the creature the benefit of the doubt for now.

"Ruka, are _you_ ok?" her brother asked her, having noticed to far-off look on her face.

Ruka was brought back to reality and considered whether to tell her brother about her encounter with the other spirit. However she decided it was best not to say anything for now.

"I'm fine. Why don't we try to get back to sleep," she suggested and she didn't hear any complaints from Rua, only his loud snoring

**End Flashback**

Ruka bit her lip at the memory. She still had never told her brother about what happened and ironically he won't tell her about the dream he had at that time either. She knew her brother had obviously gone through something terrible in that dream and that she wasn't able to help him. Since then she had begged Rua to tell her about the dream but he still refused to tell her anything about it. No matter how hard she tried and all the voluble reasons she gave him that he should tell her about it, he just wouldn't. All he would say was that it was best she didn't know and to forget about.

Yet how could she do that when she knew it had something to do with that creature for sure and that it couldn't have been a normal nightmare. That was why she felt that she had to say something about it even though she knew Rua wouldn't like it and that she was kind of being hypocritical herself.

"By any chance, did any of your marks react to anything strange lately?" questioned Ruka, immediately gaining everyone's attention.

"What do you mean Ruka," Aki asked her, even though she already had a good hunch about what the girl meant.

Ruka didn't respond right away because she was trying to figure out how much she should tell the others. She was still unsure if that unknown creature was an ally and what exactly its goals were. In the end she thought it was best to leave that part out for now until she believed she needed to tell it or until she meant the creature again to get more information from it.

"Well a few nights ago my mark glowed and started to hurt really badly. I-I know it had something to do with Yusei," making the grownups look at her with surprise and her brother giving her an "I can't believe you just blabbed" look.

"So you had the dream regarding Yusei too Ruka?" Aki asked back hesitantly with eager eyes, hoping that Ruka did have the same dream she had experienced even though deep down a part of her was hoping the young girl didn't.

Ruka pursed her lips together when she saw the pleading look on her brother's face to not say anymore. She really wanted to get to the bottom of things but she realized that she should have at least consulted her brother first about talking with it to the others before blurting it out like that. After all he's the one who had the dream and she knew it was something that Rua didn't want to bring it up.

"_I really am a hypocrite,"_ she thought with some disappointment at herself before she answered Aki's question.

"No, I didn't," she answered with her head slightly down.

Even though she wasn't lying about not having the dream, she still didn't like holding what she knew back. And the disappointed look on Aki's face didn't help either.

"But I did," Crow announced, bringing the attention to him before Jack made his own confession.

"As did I," admitted Jack, keeping the firm expression locked on his face.

Crow's and Jack's statements made the others surprised. However Aki quickly got over hers and a serious look came on her features.

"If your dream was about us dying during a duel between Yusei and some kind of fiend in a dark fortress then we all had the same dream," commented Aki, waiting to see the men's reactions to what she just said.

She wasn't disappointed because soon after she said that Jack and Crow became stunned. Ruka was the only one to notice her brother's similar reaction to what Aki said but didn't say anything since she felt she had said enough already.

"What dream and what exactly happened in it?" Bruno asked them out of curiosity.

The three older Signers looked at each other before deciding it was best to explain the dream to the others. So everyone else joined Jack and Crow at the table before the three began telling what they knew. Jack, Crow, and Aki had taken turns, sharing the dream in their own point of view. Bruno was shocked by what they were telling him. Ruka as well was having a hard time swallowing all the information. She had no idea the dream had been that bad. She glanced at Rua and saw the solemn look on his face. Ruka wanted to comfort him but thought best against it since it might give Rua away.

"Looks like we really did all have the same dream," Aki said with a sigh after the three had finished telling everything, now all knowing that the dream wasn't just an ordinary dream.

"It was more like a nightmare," stated Crow with a grave expression on his face.

"More like a load of bull crap!" Jack abruptly declared, causing all heads to turn in his direction.

"Don't look at me like that! Do you honestly believe that Yusei would sacrifice us like that?"

"You sure said differently when it was happening," pointed out Crow.

"That wasn't me!" he claimed angrily, balling his fists in frustration.

"What are you talking about? Of course it was you, I saw you. I was in it too. Remember?" Crow said, raising his brow at Jack.

"I don't care what you saw! I know those words weren't mine!" he proclaimed while slamming his hands down on the table in front of him.

"I think Jack is right," interrupted Aki, causing all eyes to turn on her.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize that those feelings or thoughts weren't actually mine. It was like I was being forced to feel and think that way," she explained.

"That's how it felt to me too…There was definitely something off about that dream," admitted Crow with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I just wish we knew what happened after we...died," Aki said, trying her best not to think too much about that last part.

"It would help us understand why our marks reacted the way that they did afterward," agreed Jack, now having calmed down a little bit.

There was a moment of silence as they were thinking about the strange dream until Rua finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Yusei got really angry," he murmured with his head down, though everyone was still able to hear him because the room had been so quiet.

"What?" was pretty much everyone's reaction except Ruka's.

"I'm the one that had the dream instead of Ruka," Rua admitted hesitantly still not looking at anyone.

"You had the dream?" Aki asked in surprise, even though the surprise was clear on the other's faces as well.

Rua only nodded yes as his answer.

"Then why didn't you say anything sooner?" Jack questioned while his voice was getting higher in volume.

"I-It was too scary," muttered Rua, but that just made Jack angrier.

"That's your excuse!" he responded back, causing Rua to flinch and feel guilty for not saying anything sooner.

"Jack, that's enough," warned Crow, knowing that Jack's temper was only making Rua feel worse.

Jack seeing the regretful look on Rua's face, did not say anymore and just crossed his arms over his chest. Knowing that was Jack's way of apologizing they decided to continue their discussion..

"Rua, would you please tell us what happened after we…had left?" Aki asked him kindly, which made Rua feel confident enough to tell them and nodded that he would do so.

"Well, like I said, Yusei became very angry afterward. While he was dueling it was like he became a different person. Every time he managed to land an attack on the guy…he enjoyed it. He wanted to make that guy pay for what happened to you guys. He didn't stop until he defeated the guy…H-He was just so…frightening. Seeing him like that is what scarred me more than anything in that dream," Rua told them, making the wheels in everyone's heads turn.

"Our marks must have been reacting to that anger that Yusei felt in that duel," reasoned Aki as the pieced started to fit together.

"Was there anything else?" Crow asked Rua.

"Yeah, after he won the duel he saw me and started calming down. But then I-I told him that he was…selfish, and that…he never cared about us in the first place. The pain on his face when I said that was just too much. He had looked so…broken," he confessed sadly before a serious look come on his face.

"But I know I would never say those things either!" Rua declared strongly, bringing an encouraging smile to his sister's lips.

"I know you wouldn't Rua" Ruka said to him in a supportive way.

"None of us would ever say the things we did in that dream," stated Jack, to which the other two Signers agreed with

"So the question that remains is; what does this dream mean?" wondered Aki.

Silence once again came amongst the group as they were contemplating on what the dream could mean.

"Maybe it's some kind of premonition," suggested Bruno.

"Are you trying to say that you believe we would hurt Yusei like that?" Jack retorted, giving Bruno an even glare, making Bruno a little nervous.

"N-No, what I'm saying is that it could be warning you in hopes of preventing something bad from happening," he clarified while bringing his hands up defensively.

"Bad like what?"

"I don't know," simply answered Bruno, gaining him a hit on the head from Jack.

"Keh, you're no help," Jack muttered after striking the blow.

There were a course of sighs and groans in response to the lack of them getting anywhere to deciphering the reason behind the dream.

"I wish Yusei was here. He would probably know," mumbled Rua in a gloomy tone.

The mood immediately became somber as everyone was reminded that an important member of their group wasn't present. Yusei's absence only served to remind them of his strange behavior and how he had been evading them lately.

"Of course, it makes sense now!" Crow abruptly shouted which caught the others off guard from his sudden outburst.

"What makes sense Crow?" asked Aki, curious about what Crow had made sense of.

"Why Yusei's been avoiding us lately. He had to of had that dream too and knowing Yusei he must have took it very seriously," reasoned Crow, causing understanding to display on everyone's faces.

"You're right, he did start avoiding us even more around the time that dream happened," Jack added as realization hit him.

"We need to talk with Yusei right now," stated Crow with gravity shown on his face while getting up from the table.

"And knock some sense into him!" added Jack with determination burning in his eyes as he got up from his seat as well.

"But didn't you guys say you didn't know where he was?" Ruka reminded them, quickly bringing Jack and Crow's enthusiasm crashing down.

"That's true. His D-Wheel was already gone when I woke up early this morning and we haven't heard from or seen him all day," stated Bruno with a sigh.

This made the others groan in dejection yet then a thoughtful look crossed Ruka's when a thought hit her.

"Did you guys try contacting him at all anytime today?" she questioned them, causing a baffled if not slightly embarrassed expression on the men's faces.

"We hadn't really thought of that," confessed Bruno, rubbing the back of his head ludicrously, making Aki, Rua, and Ruka face palm.

"Well what are we waiting for!" stated Jack as he quickly got up and headed over to the Wheel of Fortune.

* * *

It was still quiet n the hospital room as one of the person's that had been in the room was still watching over the patient in the bed. Anxiousness was clear on the person's face while looking at the one laying in the bed.

"Please wake up soon Yusei-kun," the person whispered softly.

The sound of the door opening brought the person's eyes to quickly shift from Yusei to the door. When the person saw who was coming into the room, they instantly relaxed and greeted the incomer with a small smile. The one that had just walked into the room was the second person that had been watching over Yusei as well and had returned with a few bags in their hands. The incomer immediately returned the greeting smile with one of their own; however their smile dropped some when they saw that Yusei was still in the same condition.

"No change huh," the other person muttered dolefully while walking over to the bed.

"No, not really," the person simply answered.

The second person nodded their head in understanding before taking a bento out of one of the bags they had.

"Here, I got you something to eat," the second person said, offering the bento to the other.

As the person took the box from the other, a smile grew on their lips at the sight of food.

"Thanks, you're the best," the person replied happily, giving the other a quick hug in appreciation before digging into the bento given to them.

A modest blush came to the other's cheek even though they knew they should have been used to the other's abruptness by now. Yet as they watched the person beside them tear through the food, a grin formed on their lips at the sight before they got another bento from the bag and started eating as well. While the two were eating together, the atmosphere in the room became less gloomy as the two held pleasant conversation during their meal. However the sound of loud beeping coming from the red D-Wheel lying on the far side of the room instantly interrupted the achieved comfort of the room. Realizing what the beeps meant brought alarm on the two people's faces as they were not sure what they should do.

* * *

Everyone else quickly followed Jack to his D-Wheel and watched as he turned the communication feature of his D-Wheel on.

"Yusei!" called out Jack, hoping to get some kind of response back.

However, there was none as the screen continued emitting a scratchy signal.

"Yusei, answer me!" shouted Jack, not happy with the lack of response at all.

But there was still no answer, which started worrying them greatly.

"You don't think something bad happened to him do you?" Rua suddenly asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

The place got real quiet after Rua asked that. The others were beginning to wonder the same thing as well. Just then, the screen in front of them started becoming clearer, instantly catching everyone's attention. They waited eagerly for the signal to get better and when it did, they were surprised to see the face of an unfamiliar teenage boy come on the screen instead of Yusei's.

**A/N: Phew! That was a dozy of a chapter. **

**Ok, so now I will explain some things. **

**Last Chapter:**

For those familiar with the original Yugioh, you should know what a Soul Room is. The last chapter Yusei was in his. I tried to describe it the way I thought his would look like.

The first room Yusei is in represents his heart. In others words what he cares for, which is obviously people. All the pictures in this room were of people he knew, and where the pictures were placed determined how much he cared for the person. So pictures on the walls are like acquaintances and comrades, pictures on the dresser were his closest friends (the Signers, and his other friends from Satellite that for some reason we don't see anymore in the anime), and the two pictures on the night table beside the bed were the ones he cared for the most (the first picture he picked up from the night table was Martha's so can you guess who's picture Yusei took with him now?). .

The second room was just another part of Yusei's soul room. This room represented Yusei's thinking or the mental stamina of his mind. That is why there were some places in this room that were disordered and others weren't. This shows that there are things that Yusei understands and there are other things that he doesn't. That's why when he tried to fix an area he couldn't do it because it represented something Yusei had yet to find the answer to understanding it. But the area that the picture had lead him to was something he could fix because he had acquired/accepted what he needed in order to fix it (the picture).

The third place is a part of Yusei's soul room that his duel monsters reside in. Because of the close bond he has with his cards, his monsters want to be as close to him as possible and being in Yusei's soul room is definitely close to him. In this story that is why Yusei's duel monsters' spirits don't come out like we've seen others do on the show, they feel more comfortable in Yusei's mind and it was safer for Yusei because Satellite is not the best place to be busy talking to his duel monster's spirits for most of the time. I might include more information about this specific topic in the story later.

As for Yusei's new star mark on his arm, Yusei is not some kind of Dark Signer. If I wanted him to be one I would choose one of the many other Nazca symbols that exist. I choose a Palpa symbol because the star one was just perfect for Yusei for obvious reasons, but it was also giving a hint that Yusei's destiny has some kind of connection to the Immortals but is still not really apart of it. Just like the Palpa and Nazca symbols are similar and close to each other, yet they are still different and are not exactly in the exact same area.

**This Chapter:**

The first scene should tell you that the setting is now in the real world and not in Yusei's soul room anymore. Two people (who's identities I'm keeping hidden until the next chapter) are in the hospital room Yusei is occupying. What the two people are doing there and why will be revealed in the next chapter as well.

The next part is all about the Signers, Bruno, and Rua.

Bruno's flashback shows how Yusei's trust in Bruno and Yusei's work habits have changed lately (both because of Judai). I figured Bruno wouldn't understand the importance of breaks and how they actually help your mind to function better because technically he is some kind of android. So to him working nonstop is normal, but Yusei being human really shouldn't be doing that (Judai had to get that through to Yusei which he obviously did). That's why Bruno was so surprised when Yusei was working faster and better than usual when Yusei was taking breaks.

Aki's flashback shows that when Judai was showing Yusei that memory she (and obviously the others) had experienced the memory the same way Yusei did. The huge difference is that when they saw each other it wasn't a transparent image like Yusei saw. To them they only saw the people they knew not Judai or Judai's friends. When I had the '…' in some parts of the dialog that meant that Aki didn't hear that part of it because it was blocked from her, just like the image of Judai and his friends were. If she seemed a little OOC it was because she was being overtaken by Asuka's thoughts and feelings during that time and not her own. When her Signer mark started to react to Yusei's anger, it was the exact same time when Yusei's started pulsing and changing dark blue in the third chapter. I used Aki's flashback as an example of what everyone else who was apart of the memory was going through.

Ruka's flashback was probably the most informative than the others. I used Ruka's flashback to give you the outside point of view of what was happening during the memory experience. The dark powerful presence that Ruka and Ancient Fairy sensed is NOT Judai's but the creature's instead. I think I made it pretty darn obvious who the creature is but in case someone actually didn't figure it out I'm not saying. What the creature said about the Crimson Dragon interference, it was referring how the memory experience was only meant for Yusei but because the Crimson Dragon knew what would happen to Yusei (yes something behind the scenes was going on when that was happening) it was trying to bring the other Signers into (not be apart of) the memory to help Yusei. But of course Judai wouldn't let that happen. But since the Crimson Dragon already started bringing the others into his memory, Judai's best course of action was to let them become apart of it instead so they couldn't do anything to stop it. So that's what the creature meant when it said the Crimson Dragon had caused their own suffering because of its interference.

The next scene goes back to the hospital. I gave a hint who one of the persons was, even though it was probably kind of obvious. Clues to who the other person is and their identity will come in the next chapter. Also if you're wondering about what Yusei's D-Wheel is doing in the room, well the two people didn't want to leave the D-Wheel unguarded in the parking lot (there is also another reason but that will be revealed in the next chapter). Also, Yusei is in one of those large rooms similar to the one Aki was in when she was in a coma. So if they had enough space to have a duel in that sized room they sure have enough to fit a D-Wheel in there.

The last scene, one of the two people in the hospital room finally decided to answer the call. The only question is which one of them did.

Hope that answers the majority of the questions. Also I've been thinking about putting this story in the crossover section since it might be better to have it there. If you think so let me know.


	6. In the Darkness, There's Light

**A/N: So sorry for the late update! **

**Like I said last time, this chapter will reveal who the two people are from the last chapter (though it was pretty obvious). Also another mystery person will appear in this chapter that I'm sure people will really like (I made this person's identity pretty obvious too).**

**Enjoy!**

**In the Darkness, There's Light**

There was an air of confusion and curiosity among the group at seeing a strange boy's face instead of Yusei's on the D-Wheel monitor. Yet it didn't take long for Jack to quickly start questioning the mysterious person.

"Who the hell are you and where is Yusei?" Jack questioned the person seriously, which made a small smile come to the boy's lips.

"You must be Jack. You bare the Signer Mark of the wings right?" the boy asked back, bringing surprise on everyone's faces.

"How do you know about that?" questioned Crow becoming a little suspicious of the mysterious boy.

"I just know," the boy casually answered with a small smile tugging on his lips.

"Listen you, you better tell us where Yusei is or else you will wish you never heard the name Jack Atlas!" angrily responded Jack with an annoyed expression on his face.

However instead of intimidating the boy, Jack's outburst made him laugh. That reaction certainly wasn't something the group expected and it was clearly shown on everyone's faces. Noticing their strange looks toward him made the boy calm down his laughter enough to speak again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh but you just remind me so much of someone I used to know," the boy commented with a slight smile still on his face.

"Enough fooling around and tell us what you have done with Yusei!" demanded Jack, banging his fist against the vehicle.

A frown quickly replaced the smile on the boy's face, remembering the reason why he was talking to them in the first place.

"I honestly haven't done anything to Yusei…but it doesn't mean that someone else didn't," he replied back, muttering the last part to himself even though everyone had heard him.

"What do you mean? What happened to him?" asked Aki with an edge of worry creeping in her voice.

"I'm not entirely sure but…"

"What do you mean you're not sure?" rudely interrupted Jack.

"Geez Jack, at least let the guy finish before you start trying to bite his head off," commented Crow.

"How can you defend him, for all we know he could be responsible for whatever happened to Yusei!" Jack exclaimed back, his focus now on Crow.

"You baka! That's why we should hear him out first before jumping to conclusions!" retorted Crow, becoming more agitated with Jack's behavior.

"And how can you be sure he's not lying!" Jack retorted back with a glare, moving closer into Crow's personal space.

"How could he if you didn't even give him a chance to?" angrily responded Crow as he moved in closer to Jack with a frustrated expression on his face.

Seeing that this argument wouldn't stop anytime soon, Aki immediately pushed Crow and Jack away from each other and gave both of them a stern look.

"Both of you stop fighting! We need to find out what happened to Yusei and you two arguing isn't helping!" she stated strongly causing both men to settle down knowing that she was right.

"_Now that really brings back memories,"_ the boy thought in amusement.

"Could you please tell us about Yusei now?" suddenly asked Aki brining the boy out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

Nodding positively to the female Signer's question, the boy opened his mouth to speak again.

"My friend and I found him injured on the highway late last night. It looked like he had been in some kind of accident," he answered causing alarm on the entire group's faces.

"Accident?" uttered Crow, gaining another positive nod from the unknown male.

"His D-Wheel's pretty banged up and his condition doesn't look any better so we took him to the hospital," he regrettably announced, knowing that that wouldn't make any of them feel any better.

"How bad is he?" Aki questioned though it was obvious she had been afraid to ask the question in the first place.

"From what the doctor told us aside from several scratches and bruises, the bone in his back had been broken. Luckily the doctor was able to get him into surgery and repair the damage but afterward he had slipped into a coma and he hasn't woken up since," explained the boy seriously, making everyone completely speechless.

Witnessing how shocked and frozen they were made a sorrowful expression form on the boy's face.

"He's located in Section D room number 358," he said, knowing that by the looks on their faces that they would be coming to the hospital immediately.

We're coming over there now," Crow declared, affirming that the boy's assumption had been correct.

Yet what the boy said next through them for a surprise.

"All of you shouldn't come," he responded right away.

"What?" exclaimed Jack, getting ready to tell off the person.

Seeing the irritated looks he was receiving, he realized that he would have to explain the reason for what he said.

"My friend and I pretty much had to sneak him in here to draw as less attention as possible. If all of you come to the hospital it wouldn't take long for someone to figure out that something is up and before we know it Yusei's condition will get out. And the last thing Yusei needs in his condition is sudden attention from the media," the boy critically explained, causing understanding to appear amongst the group.

"I didn't think of that," muttered Aki, suddenly remembering how when she was in a coma herself that it had been broadcasted on the news and it would most likely be worse for Yusei.

"He's got a point," sighed Crow.

"I will stay here," announced Bruno, turning all heads toward him.

"Are you sure Bruno?" Aki asked him.

"I'm sure, besides I can watch over the place while you all are gone," reassured Bruno with a smile.

The twins gave a quick look at each other as a nonverbal agreement was made between them.

"We'll stay behind too," Rua told them.

"Are you both sure?" asked Crow before the twins nodded in reply.

"We'll be just fine. That is if you don't mind watching us Bruno," Ruka stated, turning her head for approval from the older male.

"I don't mind at all," Bruno assured them.

"Then it's settled, Jack, Aki, and I will go see Yusei," Crow stated to the boy.

"Alright then, I'll tell the doctor you guys are coming and he will bring you to Yusei's room," the boy told them before instantly ending the call.

"So, what do you guys think?" asked Crow, now that the person was gone.

"I believe he was honest about everything he said, but I can't help feeling he's leaving something out," commented Aki with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Same here," agreed Jack.

"Well we won't get any answers by standing here. Let's get going," Crow said as he got on the Blackbird, prompting the other two Signers to get on their own D-Wheels as well.

"Be careful," advised Bruno to which the three said they would do before starting up their D-Wheels and heading out.

As the three D-Wheels left the garage both Rua and Ruka rushed to the front door to see them head off.

"Good luck!" yelled Ruka to the diminishing figures.

"If Yusei wakes up tell him we said hi and get's better soon!" Rua shouted out which got a supportive response from the three Signers.

* * *

Once the unknown male had finished his conversation with Yusei's friends, he had found the doctor that was taking care of Yusei and told him that a few of Yusei's friends would be coming to visit him. The doctor had understood perfectly and told the boy that he would keep a look out for them and bring them to the room as quickly and discreetly as possible. The boy thanked the doctor for his cooperation before swiftly heading back to Yusei's room. As soon as he entered the room and closed the door behind him, the boy let out a fatigued sigh. The sound had caught the attention of the other male that had been with him in Yusei's room. Having also listened in on the conversation with Yusei's friends, he understood the reason for the boy's sigh. With that he sat up from his position on Yusei's bed and walked over to the other boy before pulling him into a comforting hug. When he felt those familiar arms around him, the boy gladly leaned into the hug and returned it.

"Are you sure it was wise for me to let them know about Yusei?" the first male asked as he looked at the other male with seriousness.

"Yes, if we didn't tell them something they would've been more suspicious of us and we don't want the Signers to think that we're their enemy," answered the second male.

"I suppose so, but I'm concerned if the Signers getting involved will cause problems between us and Yusei," he replied in worry, yet the statement actually made the other chuckle before responding.

"Is that what you were really worried about?" the other asked in a nonchalant manner making the other boy give him a confused look.

Noticing the look he was getting from his comrade, he responded by tightening his hold on the other boy in a reassuring way.

"Yusei's bond with us is much stronger than with the Signers. They can't keep him from us, nor do they have the power strong enough to succeed in doing so," he stated in a serious and comforting voice which succeeded in bringing a bashful smile to the first male's lips.

"You're right, I guess I just worry too much sometimes," the other replied in modesty causing a grin to form on the other male's face.

"You're worry for others is one of the things I love most about you," the second boy honestly replied back causing a heavy blush to appear on the other boy's face.

However, loud fast rhythmic beeping from the electroencephalograph machine in the room urgently broke the lighthearted moment between the two. Their attention immediately focused on where the loud beeping sound that interrupted them came from and noticed the repetitive rapid escalating and descending of the light green line reading displayed on the machine. Noting this, their gazes swiftly shifted from the machine to the person it was connected to.

Yusei's once peaceful sleeping face was now contorted in pain, his breathing was becoming hollow and rigid, and his body tense as though he was experiencing a huge amount of stress. But above all that, the thing that concerned the two the most was the strong crimson glow coming from the dragonhead shaped mark on Yusei's right arm. Urgency showed in the two pair of open eyes as the boys quickly headed over to Yusei's bedside. A pair of eyes had quickly changed to a gold color along with the black pupils altering into a cross like shape. The hand that belonged to the same person with the changed eye color went to cover Yusei's forehead while his other hand covered over the glowing birthmark on Yusei's arm. A look of concentration came on the boy's face and after a few seconds a bit of fear and urgency displayed on his face before he quickly faced the other boy standing beside him.

"It's fighting for him much harder now. I'll need your help this time," he told the other with emergency greatly laced in his words.

Understanding appeared on the other male's face as he placed his hands over Yusei's forehead and right arm, joining the other pair of hands before a glowing purple symbol of a five star shape enclosed in a circle with smaller symbols on it appeared on the boy's forehead. Looks of focus and concentration were displayed on both faces as their powers worked together to fight off the opposing powerful force.

* * *

A sudden throbbing pain and crimson glow coming from their right arms had instantly grabbed Jack, Crow, and Aki's attention as they were riding on their way to Domino Hospital. It didn't take them long to figure out that their marks were reacting to Yusei, which made them all the more worried about him than before.

"_Dammit, this can't be good!" _anxiously thought Crow, referring to the warning their birthmarks were sending off.

"_Yusei, please be alright,"_ Aki thought worryingly, hoping that Yusei wasn't in any immediate danger.

"_Yusei, you better stay alive!"_ mentally threatened Jack as his hands clenched on tighter to the handles of his D-Wheel.

Yet just as quickly as it came, the marks suddenly stopped glowing and throbbing. This surprised and concerned the three Signers, not sure if their marks cease in reaction was a good sign or a bad one. After this happened, a shared look of communication went between the three D-Wheelers before they each knocked up their D-Wheel's speed. They started maneuvering around other vehicles that were on the road and performing cuts, turns, wheelies, and jumps that would definitely be considered as reckless driving. But at that point they didn't care if they got arrested for it later, all that mattered to them was getting to Yusei as soon as possible.

* * *

The two males gave a relieved sigh as the Signer mark on Yusei's arm finally became dormant once more. Yusei was now back to a peaceful resting state and the reading from the electroencephalograph machine returned to a stable level. The tension from the urgent situation was already disappearing and it was at this time that a disdainful stare from one of the boys was directed at the other one.

"So what happened to the Signers not being a reason for me to worry?" he asked mockingly with his arms folded.

The other male averted his eyes upward with a nonchalant expression on his face and his arms folded in the back of his head.

"Well…I didn't say anything about the Crimson Dragon," he simply replied causing the other boy to gain an exasperated expression on his face.

It always amazed him how the other boy could go from being serious to being mild in a second. It seemed that the boy had an automated switch that allowed him to quickly change his emotions to help him adapt to whatever situation he's in. And it was because of this trait that now that the danger was over, the boy was going back to acting like nothing had just happened.

"You're unbelievable," was the amused response.

This made the other male's eyes shift back down to look at the one beside him as a grin formed on his lips.

"And that's way you love me so much right?" he said back with mirth in his voice making the other boy to crack a smile in response.

"Right."

At that moment the sudden glowing dark blue light that was coming from Yusei's right arm had drawn their immediate attention. Pain was once again shown on Yusei's face as his body went through spasms that correlated with the pulsing and changing of the mark on his right arm. Knowing that the uncontrollable movement from the spasms would make Yusei's condition worse, they both grabbed a tight hold on Yusei to restrain him and keep his body as still as possible.

Eventually the spasms stopped just as the transformation of the mark on Yusei's arm was completed. The new mark on Yusei's arms was vibrantly glowing as an expression of peace came over Yusei's face, quickly replacing the painful one. Knowing that the ordeal was now over, the two released their hold on Yusei before their sights landed on the newly formed symbol on Yusei's arm, bringing a joyous smile on both of the boys' faces. But just then surprise had taken over their faces when they each had a hand suddenly pull them down closer to the bed with a now awake and smiling Yusei. Joy was apparent on all of their faces, knowing that the three of them were reunited once again.

* * *

Rua blinked his eyes in confusion when he noticed that he was no longer inside Poppo Time and was now floating in outer space.

"_W-what's going on? Where am I?"_ thought Rua not having any idea what was going on.

"So it seems that I'm not the only one who was brought here," a voice suddenly stated from right beside him making Rua jump in surprise.

When Rua saw who the person beside him was, his eyes widened in shock. Apprehension towards the person instantly was shown on Rua's face before he moved a few steps away from the person.

"What are you doing here?" asked Rua with distain in his voice towards the person

The person didn't seem to be offended by the child's behavior; in fact there was indulgence and even slight guilt present in their eyes.

"I understand your distrust, but I promise you that I mean you no harm," the person replied honesty.

Rua could see the sincerity on the person's face and accepted the person's presence; however that didn't mean he wasn't still keeping up his guard.

"So do you know where we are anyway?" Rua asked bringing a small frown on the other's lips.

"No, nor do I know why we are here. Though it appears that it is just the two of us in this place," the person commented back seriously.

Rua immediately took a look around and noticed that the person was right and that they were the only ones in this vast emptiness of space.

"How are Yusei, Crow, and Jack doing?" was the unexpected question that the person asked Rua.

The question however reminded Rua of Yusei's current predicament, bringing an upset expression on his face.

"Yusei is in a coma," Rua answered sadly causing the other's eyes to widen in surprise.

"What happened to Yusei?" the person urgently demanded to know, which made Rua a little scared when he saw the person's stern look directed at him.

Realizing that their tone had scared the boy, the person calmed down some before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, It's just…Would you please tell me what happened to him," the person questioned more gently this time.

Rua relaxed some after seeing the person was calm again and agreed to tell the person everything that the unknown boy had told the group on what happened to Yusei. After Rua finished giving out the details, a moment of silence came between the two. For Rua it was not having anything else to say, while the other person was in deep thought about the situation knowing that something was definitely wrong.

"Yusei's been hurt a lot worse than that before and never suffered from any mental repercussions especially a coma. So how can a few scratches and a broken back easily put him in one? Either he was hurt a lot worse than that boy let on or something bigger is going on behind this. That boy also knew about the Signers, which means he most likely knows Yusei is one too. I have no doubt that him finding Yusei on the road was more than a coincidence," the person deduced, voicing their thoughts out loud.

What the person said made sense to Rua as he realized the person had easily brought up the holes in the boy's story. Of course this now made Rua even more concerned for Yusei's safety.

"I hope Jack, Aki, and Crow get to Yusei before something really bad happens to him," worried Rua with a downcast look on his face.

At that moment the appearance of a familiar red dragon came before the two, making awe shown on their faces.

"The Crimson Dragon!" exclaimed Rua in a mix of excitement and wonder.

"So this is the Crimson Dragon," the person uttered in slight amazement, not having seen the dragon before.

**Fudo Yusei is in more danger now than ever. **

Hearing the dragon's words, instantly caught Rua and the person's attention.

"What kind of danger?" frantically asked Rua.

**Fudo Yusei has chosen another destiny and therefore I can no longer fully protect him**.

Rua was a little confused at what the dragon meant by what he said, but the other person immediately caught on to the message.

"Yusei is no longer a Signer," the other person elaborated better for Rua, making Rua's eyes widen in shock.

**That is correct. That is why I have summoned you both. I will need your help to protect him. He will need it now more than ever. **

This news only made the two more troubled, realizing that Yusei was in even more danger than they first thought. Seeing that it now had their attention, the Crimson Dragon faced Rua before it spoke again.

**Rua your powers were meant to be awaked at a later time but under these unfortunate circumstances I have considered to awaken them earlier if you wish to accept them. **

"So I can be a Signer?" asked Rua, who was finally starting to understand the dragon's way of speech.

**That is correct. You will become the carrier of my heart but it will be up to you to awaken my fallen servant.**

The dragon's attention then shifted to the person standing beside Rua.

**I have chosen you to take the place as the new leader of the Signers. **

Now this caught the person by surprise, even though the person had a small hunch that this is why they were there, it was still shocking to actually here the dragon say it.

"Why me?" asked the person curiously after getting over their shock.

**You have walked in the path of darkness once yet you have prospered from it. Your experiences and skills make you more than qualified to be the new leader of the Signers.**

The person was speechless at hearing the dragon's confidence in what it said about them, especially after everything they had done. Rua was equally surprised by this but figured if the Crimson Dragon believed the person would really be a good addition to the team then maybe the person really had changed like Yusei told him. However they were brought out of their musings when the Crimson Dragon continued to speak.

**Be warned if you both except this there is no going back. And in order to protect him you will most likely have to go against him.**

The warning the dragon just gave them was not something they expected. A frown came to Rua's face, not liking the thought of fighting Yusei who was like an older brother to him.

"_But if beating Yusei is the only way to make sure he's ok then I can't back down!"_ strongly thought Rua as he finally made his decision.

"I want to be a Signer. I want to be able to help my sister and my friends protect Yusei!" Rua proclaimed with no doubt in his voice whatsoever.

The other person had gained a look of determination on their face.

"_Yusei had saved me even when I didn't deserve to be saved. Now I can return the favor and protect my brother like I should,"_ the person thought in resolve also finally coming to a decision.

"I accept," answered the person in assurance of what he wanted.

**Very well then.**

At that moment a crimson glow came from Rua and the person's right arm. Seeing the glow both brought their arms to eye length and saw the marks form on their arms. The person now bore the Dragon Head mark while Rua bore the Dragon Heart mark which looked like a human heart.

Suddenly the world around the two started disappearing and that they were starting to fade away as well.

**You all must protect him at all cost or destruction will be all that remains.**

Those were the last words they heard the Crimson Dragon say before they completely vanished.

Rua's eyes slowly opened and immediately saw the familiar garage/basement of Poppo Time. He blinked his eyes a couple of times to make sure that what he was seeing was indeed real.

"_Was that just a dream?"_ he wondered before a familiar glow attracted his attention.

Seeing the glow come from his right arm, Rua instantly looked at it and indeed saw the Dragon Heart mark was still there on his arm.

"_So it really wasn't a dream,"_ Rua realized before a huge grin came to his face.

"Yes, I'm finally a Signer!" he shouted out happily with his fists pumped up in the air acting like the excited child he really was.

"I know you are, I was there remember," a familiar voice stated in amusement from behind Rua, which made the person succeed in surprising Rua for the second time that day.

"Geeze, do you have to keep doing that?" Rua asked with some annoyance in his voice while turning around to glare at the person.

"It's not my fault you scare easily," the person replied back with a small smirk on their face.

The statement made a glower expression came on Rua's face before he just realized something important.

"Hey, how did you get here anyway?" he asked, knowing the person hadn't even been in the city before now.

"The Crimson Dragon," the person said in an evident tone having believed the answer to that question was obvious.

Rua had caught the 'duh' tone in the person's answer and was about to retort to it when his sister Ruka, who had been upstairs in the kitchen, came to the top of the steps.

"Rua, what's with all the yelling?" she questioned coming down the steps.

Yet as soon as she reached the bottom of the steps her eyes finally noticed the other person that was beside her brother. Fear and confusion entered Ruka's eyes at seeing the person, especially near her brother. Quickly seeing the worried expression on Ruka's face, Rua was about to explain the situation to her but was interrupted once again by Bruno entering the garage/basement through the main door with a toolbox in his hand.

"Ruka, Rua, I'm back!" he announced happily, yet the look on his face instantly became firm when he saw a person he didn't know with the twins.

"Who are you?" Bruno asked in a warning tone while swiftly getting closer to where the person and the twins were.

The person noticed what Bruno was doing and could see that even though Bruno wasn't clearly the violent type; if he had to he would protect the two children no matter what. With this noted, the person let out a sigh as they pulled up their sleeve on their right arm.

"I am the new leader of the Signers," the person stated showing Ruka and Bruno the Dragon Head mark openly on their right arm.

Shock came on Ruka and Bruno's faces when they saw the mark that belonged to Yusei was now on the person's arm instead.

"_How is that possible? …Does this mean that Yusei is…No I refuse to believe that, but then how was he able to obtain Yusei's mark?"_ wondered Bruno in confusion and dread of what this meant for the fate of his best friend.

"_Why did the Crimson Dragon give someone else Yusei's mark, especially to _him _of all people? And if Yusei no longer has the head mark then what mark does he have now? Uhh…this doesn't make any sense!"_ Ruka thought in frustration, not sure what to make of this.

By the suspicious and wary looks on the two's faces, Rua knew he had to ease their doubts.

"It's ok you guys, he's good now and he's going to help us protect Yusei," explained Rua in a positive way with a reassuring smile.

Bruno's distrust of the person grew more when he heard the "good now" part. While Ruka noting how confident Rua was about what he said, made her start to accept the idea a little better.

"Rua, are you sure?" Ruka asked a little doubtfully while taking a swift glance at the person.

"Yep, the Crimson Dragon even said so! And check this out! I'm a Signer now too!" exclaimed Rua with excitement, holding his right arm up to show off his new Signer Mark.

Bruno was starting to get a headache from all these new developments so he decided to sit down on one of the available chairs in the garage to try to gather his thoughts. Ruka on the other hand easily accepted her brother's new role as a Signer and gave her brother a hug.

"That's great Rua, I always believed in you," Ruka complimented to her brother with a warm smile, glad for her brother.

"So why did the Crimson Dragon give you Yusei's mark?" Bruno suddenly asked the person in curiosity, as his mind was now starting to understand the situation a little better.

A serious expression came on the person's face as their eyes that carried determination and strength locked on Bruno.

"Because I will do _anything_ I have to in order to protect Yusei."

* * *

Thanks to amazing reckless driving, Jack, Crow, and Aki had reached the hospital in record time. The three had parked their D-Wheels a block away from the hospital, remembering that they didn't want to bring any kind of attention, and made a dash from their vehicles to the hospital building. Once they entered the building, the doctor who was already at the front waiting for them, spotted them immediately and walked over to the three Signers.

"Good afternoon, I am Dr. Akashi. You are here to visit Fudo Yusei correct?" he said, getting a yes/nod from them.

"Then please follow me," instructed Dr. Akashi as he began leading them deeper into the hospital.

While they were walking to their destination, a female nurse suddenly ran over to the doctor. Seeing the urgency on the nurse's face, Dr. Akashi stopped to listen to what she had to say.

"Dr. Akashi Fudo-san is having a seizure attack! When I went to check on him I saw that the boys had to start holding him down! You must hurry now!" the nurse cried urgently.

Jack, Crow, and Aki also heard what the nurse said and immediately starting running to where their friend was with the doctor following close behind. Since the three already knew the section and room number beforehand, they had a pretty good idea where to go, though at some points Dr. Akashi had to redirect them when they were heading for the wrong way. It took them five minutes to finally reach Yusei's room and when the four entered the room their eyes meant a very astonishing sight.

Not only did they see that Yusei was now awake, but that two boys were lying on both sides of him. Yusei had both of his hands around their waists while the boy on Yusei's right had his left hand on Yusei's chest and the right one in Yusei's hair. While the boy on Yusei's left had his right hand in Yusei's hair but his left hand was on Yusei's lower chest. Both boys had their legs tied tightly around each of Yusei's legs placing Yusei's legs perfectly between theirs. The three looked to be caught up in their own little word that they hadn't noticed that others were now in the room. Dr. Akashi wore an amused smile on his face while Jack, Aki, and Crow were in shock and confusion to what they were seeing before them. Yet Jack was the first of his friends to break out of his shock and speak.

"What the heck is going on here?" Jack abruptly screamed, no longer able to contain his frustration at not understanding what was happening before him.

Hearing Jack's loud outburst greatly startled the three boys causing them to quickly separate from each other and face the four people standing several feet away from them. Yusei's eyes widened as soon as his eyes landed on his friends.

"Jack? Aki? Crow? What are you guys doing here?" Yusei asked them, surprised to see his friends were in the room.

"They came to visit you. We were told that your condition had worsened but it seems you've two teammates helped you made a quick recovery," Dr. Akashi stated in amusement, making the three boys' cheeks turn a nice shade of red.

Yet there was one word in the doctor's statement that immediately caught Jack, Aki, and Crow's attention.

"Teammates?" the three Signers yelled in shock, wearing identical baffled looks.

"Wait, you mean you three didn't know?" Dr. Akashi asked them with a surprised look on his face.

"No I haven't told them yet, though this is a good time as any," Yusei answered seriously before turning to face the tree Signers.

"Jack, Aki, Crow, these are my new teammates Judai and Yugi," he announced pointing to person at his right as Judai and then to his left as Yugi before sighing as he was ready to drop the bombshell on them.

"I'm leaving Team 5Ds."

**A/N: Yep they were Yuki Judai and Muto Yugi! Kudos to Kohanita for guessing it right! Azab you were close but you did guess that it was Judai's picture that Yusei had taken with him. **

**So who can guess the identity of the new mystery person?**

**Important:** Right now I am not sure if Yami Yugi will be in this story. I can easily have him in it or out of it. So please let me know if you guys want Yami Yugi in this story.


End file.
